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A  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG: 


HIS 


HABITS,  BREEDS,  MANAGEMENT, 
AND  DISEASES. 


WITH  ESPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  THE 


DISEASE  CALLED  HOG  CHOLERA. 


TOGETHER  WITH  A 


CHAPTER  ON  TRICHINA. 


By   JAMES    A.   REASOR, 

OF  JEFFERSON  COUNTY,  KY, 


LOUISVILLE,   KY: 
PRINTED    BY    JOHN    P.   MORTON    AND    COMPANY. 

1870. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18W, 
By  JAMES  A.  REASOR, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Kentuc^. 


Stereotyped  by 
ROBERT   ROWELL, 

Louisville,  Kjr. 


PREFACE. 


After  many  years  of  study  and  labor,  and  much 
perplexity,  tlie  author  offers  the  results  of  his  expe- 
rience and  investigations  to  the  public.  He  has  used 
his  best  endeavors  to  make  the  work  interesting'  to 
the  reader,  by  going  somewhat  at  length  into  the 
history  of  the  hog;  and,  as  he  hopes,  profitable  to 
the  raiser  by  calling  his  attention  to  the  proper 
management  of  this  valuable  animal,  both  in  health 
and  in  disease.  Although  much  has  been  written  on 
the  subject  of  breeds  and  breeding,  the  author  has 
also  given  his  observations  and  experience  on  the 
subject,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  be  found  of 
service  to  the  reader. 

But  the  chief  object  of  the  work  in  its  inception 
was  to  give  a  thorough  and  complete  account  of  that 
terrible  disease  amongst  the  swine  known  as  "hog 
CHOLERA."  On  this  subject  great  labor,  time,  and 
expense  has  been  bestowed.  To  the  investigation 
of  this  disease  many  weary  hours  of  study  have 
been  given,  in  order  to  determine  the  nature  of  the 
disease  and  the  true  causes  producing  it.  Great 
painstaldng  and  many  tedious  experiments,  under 
many  discouragements,  were   found   necessary. 

The  author  believes  that  he  has  finally  discovered 
the  true  sources  of  this  dreaded  malady.  He  be- 
lieves that  if  his  instructions  are  faithfully  carried 
into  practice  that  hog  cholera  will  become  a  rarity. 

(3) 


4  PREFACE. 

This  may  seem  to  be  strong,  confident  language; 
and  nothing  could  induce  him  to  utter  it  but  a  con- 
sciousness of  its  truth. 

A  short  chapter  on  diseased  meats,  and  one  on  that 
terrible  little  animal  the  trichina  spiralis,  and  many 
recipes  for  the  various  diseases  of  the  hog,  and  the 
names  of  the  medicines  most  employed  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  hog,  and  all  that  is  really  important  on 
these  subjects,  have  been  added,  together  with  a  short 
dictionary  of  words  not  in  common  use. 

The  author  feels  that  no  apology  is  needed  for  the 
appearance  of  a  book  on  the  hog  and  his  diseases,  as 
he  is  satisfied  that  such  a  work  is  demanded;  but 
perhaps  an  apology  is  needed  for  the  manner  in 
which  the  duty  has  been  performed.  He  lays  no 
claims  to  scholarship,  and  is  perfectly  aware  that  it 
has  many  defects,  for  which  he  begs  the  indulgence 
of  the  reader. 

The  author  avails  himself  of  the  occasion  to  ex- 
press his  thanks  to  his  many  scientific  friends  of  the 
medical  profession  for  their  kind  assistance  in  making 
post-mortem  and  microscopic  examinations  for  him, 
and  in  an  especial  manner  desires  to  express  his  ac- 
knowledgments to  the  following  authors,  from  whose 
valuable  works  he  has  made  extensive  quotations; 
viz.,  Youatt,  Beaty,  Martin,  and  also  to  Virchow  and 
his  able  translator,  Rufus  King  Brown,  M.  D.;  and  to 
Br.  J.  D.  Jackson  and  Professor  Dalton,  from  whose 
works  on  the  trichina  he  has  derived  the  greater 
part  of  the  chapter  on  that  subject. 

With  these  remarks,  explanatory  of  the  scope  and 
objects  of  the  book,  the  author  offers  it  to  the  public, 
with  the  sincere  hope  that  it  may  satisfy  the  expec- 
tations of  its  readers. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  June  1;  1870. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  HOG. 

Law  of  the  Jews — The  Eomans  gave  great  attention  to  them — The 
Gauls  produced  the  finest  swine — The  Jews  gave  attention  to  raising 
swine — Highly  esteemed  by  the  English — Staple  article  of  food — 
Brought  to  highest  state  of  cultivation  by  the  English — Value  of  his 
flesh  to  the  world — Easily  raised  and  very  prolific — His  commercial 
importance — Not  a  native  of  cold  climates — Class  of  animals  to  which 
he  belongs — States  most  interested  in  him — Importance  of  thorough 
knowledge  of  his  habits — Cleanliness — Sagacity — More  choice  than 
any  other  animal  in  selecting  his  food — His  viciousness — All  depends 
on  proper  management — Flesh  used  for  various  purposes 9 

CHAPTEK  II. 

THE     -WILD     BOAR. 

Description  of  him — Goes  in  search  of  his  food  at  night — Sense  of  smell 
— Manner  of  defending  herd  against  enemies — Their  age — Solitary 
habits  when  old — Habits  of  the  female — They  farrow  but  once  a  year 
— Laws  to  protect  the  boar  for  the  chase — Hogs  introduced  into 
America — Number  and  value  in  the  United  States^ 27 

CHAPTEK  III. 

DOMESTICATION — DIFFERENT   BREEDS. 

Dififerent  breeds  crossed  and  recrossed  to  improve  the  ptock — Names 
applied  to  the  breeds  produced — First  improved  breeds  imiiorted  to 
America  a  present  to  "Washington — Caution  against  inijxtsition  in 
selecting  blooded  hogs — Improved  breeds  at  county  fairs — Selection 
of  breeds — Color,  etc ' 36 

^5^ 


6  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

BREEDING. 

Objects  to  be  attained — To  secure  healthy  and  prolific  hogs — Selections 
of  breeders — Pigs  inherit  qualities  of  parents — Pecundity  of  breeders 
— In-and-in  breeding — Proper  age  of  breeders — Directions  and  advice 
of  raisers;: — Time  the  sow  carries  her  young — Abortion — Sows  devour 
their  young — Treatment  of  sows  while  suckling — Weaning — Proper 
time  for  farrowing 45 

CHAPTEE  V. 

PROTECTION — PLAN  OF  HOG-HOTJSE. 

The  importance  of  proper  protection  of  the  hog  during  the  winter  and 
early  spring — Ground  plan  of  a  cheap  and  convenient  house  for  the 
purpose,  with  full  description — Advantages  at  the  farrowing  and 
breeding  seasons — Directions  in  regard  to  castration  and  speying...62 

CHAPTEE  YI. 

ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  HOG. 

The  head — The  nose — Nerves  of  the  special  senses — The  teeth  ;  their 
names  and  number;  their  importance  and  function — Lining  of  the 
mouth — The  brain,  larger  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  animal  than 
that  of  the  ox  or  sheep — Apoplexy,  its  cause;  its  treatment — Inflam- 
mation of  the  brain — Epilepsy — Lockjaw,  causes  of — Diseases  of  the 
nose;  how  produced  —  The  larynx,  diseases  of — The  pharynx — 
Strangles  and  quinsy,  treatment  of — The  chest — The  lungs,  diseases 
of — Bronchial  tubes;  their  diseases 70 

CHAPTEE  YII. 

THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL. 

The  gullet  or  cesophagus — The  stomach — The  intestines,  large  and  small 
— Inflammation  of  the  bowels;  treatment — Colic;  treatment — Diar- 
rhea; treatment — Gorget  of  the  maw;  cause;  treatment — The  liver 
— The  spleen — Peritoneum,  inflammation  of;  treatment — Worms  in 
the  intestines;  varieties;  treatment — Kidneys  and  bladder,  diseases 
of;  treatment  of 93 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTEE  YIII. 

THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  DISEASES. 

Its  structure — Gangrenous  erysipelas — Lice;  how  to  destroy  them^, 
Leprosy;  its  history;  treatment — Mange;  its  cause;  treatment — . 
Measles;  its  nature;  cause;   treatment 116 

CHAPTEE  IX. 

CHOLERA. 

Difficult  to  manage — Very  mysterious — Conflicting  views  concerning  it 
— Epidemics — Name  cholera  improperly  applied — Its  fatality — Sup- 
posed loss  by  its  ravages — External  appearances  of  the  disease — 
Symptoms  of  the  disease — Symptoms  numerous — The  premonitory 
symptoms  to  be  particularly  noticed 135 

CHAPTEE  X. 

POST-MOETEM  APPEARANCES. 

The  heart  —  Windpipe  —  Lungs  —  Liver  —  Gall-bladder  —  Stomach — 
Bowels — Kidneys  and  bladder 146 

CHAPTEE  XI. 

REPORT  OF  PHYSICIANS  OF  COLES  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS. 

Eeport  of  Dr.  W.  M.  Allen,  of  Jefi"erson  County,  Kentucky — Views  of 
Dr.  Sutton,  of  Indiana — Mr.  Higgins,  of  Maryland 154 

CHAPTEE   XII. 

CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA. 

Experiments  —  Observations  in  pens  —  Long  attention  given  to  its 
study 169 

CHAPTEE  XIIL 

TREATMENT  OF  CHOLERA. 

Prevention  better  than  cure — Early  attention  important — Feeding — 
Watering — Bedding — Medical  treatment — Eecipes 199 


8  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

DISEASED  MEATS. 

Injurious  to  man — Effects  upon  dogs  from  eating  it — How  diseased  meat 
u  ay  be  detected — Cysticercus;  how  known;  produce  tape- worm  in 
man 214 

CHAPTER  XV. 

TRICHINA    SPIRALIS. 

Its  history-^Its  effect  upon  animals  and  man — Where  found — Its  propa- 
gation  ..227 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Medicines 293 


TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


CHAPTER   I. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    HOO. 

Law  of  the  Jews — The  Romans  gave  great  attention  to  them — The 
Gauls  produced  the  finest  swine — The  Jews  gave  attention  to  raising 
swine — Highly  esteemed  by  the  English  —  Staple  article  of  food — 
Brought  to  highest  state  of  cultivation  by  the  English — Value  of 
his  flesh  to  the  world — ^Easily  raised  and  very  prolific — His  commer- 
cial importance — Not  a  native  of  cold  climates — Class  of  animals  to 
which  he  belongs  —  States  most  interested  in  him — Importance  of 
thorough  knowledge  of  his  habits  —  Cleanliness  —  Sagacity  —  More 
choice  than  any  other  animal  in  selecting  his  food — His  vicious- 
ness — All  depends  on  proper  management — Flesh  used  for  various 
purposes. 

The  history  of  the  hog  is  exceedingly  interesting. 
Youatt  says:  "As  far  back  as  the  records  of  history 
enable  us  to  go,  the  hog  appears  to  have  been  known 
and  his  flesh  made  use  of  as  food.  Fourteen  hun- 
dred and  ninety-one  years  before  Christ,  Moses  gave 
those  laws  to  the  Israelites,  which  have  occasioned  so 
much  discussion  and  given  rise  to  many  opinions." 

Pliny  informs  us  that  the  E-omans  gave  much  at- 
tention to  swine,  and  that  they  fed  them  on  dried 

figs,  and  drenched  them  to  repletion  with  honeyed 

(9) 


10  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

wine,  in  order  to  produce  a  diseased  and  monstrous- 
sized  liver.  "  The  Porcus  Trojanus,  so  called  in  allu- 
sion to  the  Trojan  horse,  was  a  very  celebrated  dish, 
and  one  that  eventually  became  so  extravagantly 
expensive  that  a  sumptuary  law  was  passed  respect- 
ing it." 

Varro  states  that  the  Gauls  produced  the  largest 
and  finest  swine's  flesh  that  was  brought  into  Italy; 
and,  according  to  Strabo,  in  the  reign  of  Augustus 
they  supplied  Rome  and  nearly  all  Italy  with  gam- 
mons, hog-puddings,  hams,  and  sausages.  This  na- 
tion and  the  Spaniards  appear  to  have  kept  immense 
droves  of  swine,  but  scarcely  any  other  kind  of  live 
stock. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  among  the  ancients  the 
hog  was  held  in  high  esteem.  "In  fact  the  hog  was 
held  in  nearly  as  high  esteem  among  the  early  na- 
tions of  Europe,  and  some  of  the  ancients  have  even 
paid  it  divine  honors."  "  In  the  island  of  Crete  it 
was  regarded  as  sacred.  This  animal  was  always 
sacrificed  to  Ceres  at  the  beginning  of  harvest,  and 
to  Bacchus  at  the  commencement  of  the  vintage,  by 
the  Grreeks,  probably  because  this  animal  is  equally 
hostile  to  the  growing  corn  and  the  ripening  grape." 

The  Jews,  the  Egyptians,  and  the  followers  of 
Mohammed,  appear  alone  to  have  abstained  from 
it.     But  although  the  Jews  abstained  from  eating 


HISTORY  OF  THE  HOG.  11 

the  flesh  of  the  hog,  yet  they  gave  much  attention 
to  rearing  of  swine  for  profit.  Allusions  are  found 
in  the  New  Testament  which  go  to  confirm  this, 
and  nothing  in  the  Mosaic  law  prohibits  them  from 
doing  so. 

Martin  says:  "At  what  period  the  hog  was  re- 
claimed, or  by  what  nation,  we  can  not  tell.  As  far 
back  as  history  goes,  we  find  notices  of  this  animal, 
and  of  the  uses  of  its  flesh  for  food.  By  some  na- 
tions it  was  held  in  abhorrence  and  prohibited  as 
food,  while  among  others  its  flesh  was  accounted 
a  great  delicacy." 

Youatt,  in  his  valuable  work  on  the  hog,  says: 
"From  the  earliest  times  in  our  own  island  (Eng- 
land) the  hog  has  been  regarded  as  a  very  impor- 
tant animal,  and  vast  herds  were  tended  by  swine- 
herds, who  watched  over  their  safety  in  the  woods, 
and  collected  them  at  night  under  shelter.  Its 
flesh  was  the  staple  article  of  consumption  in  every 
household,  and  much  of  the  wealth  of  the  rich  and 
free  portions  of  the  community  consisted  in  these 
animals." 

In  all  nations,  with  a  few  exceptions,  this  animal 
has  received  attention,  either  for  food  or  for  profit. 
In  England,  above  all  other  countries,  the  hog  has 
been  brought  to  the  highest  state  of  perfection  by 
i\  wise  course  of  breeding  and  management,  and  our 


12  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

finest  and  best  breeds  in  this  country  have  been  im- 
ported from  England. 

The  value  of  the  hog  to  the  world  can  scarcely 
be  overestimated.  Its  flesh  constitutes  one  of  the 
great  staple  articles  of  food  for  the  millions  of  all 
countries.  The  hog  is  easily  reared,  and  is  among 
the  most  prolific  of  animals,  even  under  adverse 
circumstances,  and  with  good  treatment  and  proper 
management  is  the  most  profitable  animal  in  exist- 
ence. 

It  is  difiicult  to  understand  what  the  poor  would  do 
for  this  kind  of  food  but  for  the  hog.  It  furnishes 
the  most  abundant  and  consequently  the  cheapest 
animal  food.  Its  flesh  and  its  products  are  almost, 
if  not  absolutely,  necessary  to  every  household  in 
America.  In  various  forms  its  flesh  is  shipped  to 
nearly  every  seaport  in  the  world,  and  is  the  source 
of  immense  wealth,  both  personal  and  national.  It 
forms  part  of  the  mess  of  the  soldier,  the  sailor,  the 
farmer,  the  mechanic,  the  laborer,  the  high  and  the 
low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  prince  and  peasant; 
its  flesh  is  the  most  appetizing  food  in  the  world; 
its  fat  supplies  fuel  for  our  bodies,  and  the  waste 
caused  by  the  laborer  in  his  daily  toil. 

Perhaps  the  flesh  of  no  other  animal  is  so  univers- 
ally rehshed  as  that  of  the  hog;  nor  is  the  flesh  of  any 
other  animal  used  for  so  great  variety  of  purposes. 


HISTORY  OE  THE  HOG.  13 

One  of  the  greatest  boons  to  the  New  Worla  was 
the  introduction  of  the  hog  into  it.  It  is  not  a 
native  of  this  continent,  belonging,  as  naturalists  in- 
form us,  to  the  order  Pachydermiia^  genus  Buida  or 
/Sw5.  This  order  of  animal  is  only  found  in  a 
tropical  climate;  thus  the  elephant,  rhinoceros,  and 
hog  are  found  existing  naturally  in  the  same  country 
and  climate.  Being  a  native  of  a  high  southern 
climate,  it  follows  that  he  is  obliged  to  be  accli- 
mated in  our  northern  states  before  he  could  become 
profitable,  and  even  then  is  by  no  means  as  prolific 
and  profitable  as  in  the  milder  regions  of  our 
middle  and  southern  states;  and  this  observation  is 
borne  out  by  the  fact  that  the  number  reared  in  the 
latter  section  is  greatly  in  excess  over  that  of  the 
northern  section.  The  number  of  hogs  reared  in 
the  State  of  Georgia,  in  the  year  1860,  was  one 
fifteenth  of  the  whole  number  reared  in  the  United 
States;  viz.,  2,036,116  (Patent  Office  Report,  1860). 
One  of  the  chief  products  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio  consists  of  hogs,  yielding 
these  states  annually  many  millions  of  dollars, 
besides  furnishing  their  millions  of  inhabitants  with 
the  greatest  abundance  of  animal  food.  The  Patent 
Office  Report  for  the  year  1866  shows  that  there 
were  in  the  United  States  about  35,500,000  hogs; 
in  1867,  from  the  same  source,  we  learn  that  there 


X 


14  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

were  30,000,000,  estimated  to  be  worth  about  $134, 
111,424;  this  estimate  is  doubtless  rather  below 
than  above  the  truth. 

The  number  reared  annually  has  varied  very  much, 
owing  to  a  variety  of  causes,  but  chiefly  in  conse- 
quence of  disease  brought  about  by  bad  manage- 
ment, and  the  severe  winters  in  our  northwestern 
states,  where  these  animals  are  raised  in  great 
numbers. 

An  animal  so  exceedingly  valuable  ought  to  com- 
mand the  earnest  attention  of  every  one,  whether 
he  be  a  consumer,  speculator,  or  producer. 

It  must,  however,  be  confessed  by  those  who  are 
at  all  acquainted  with  the  facts  in  the  case,  that  no 
animal  of  half  its  value  receives  so  little  care  and 
attention  from  his  master  and  owner  as  the  hog. 
This  arises  from  the  fact  that  it  is  thought  by  many 
that  the  hog  really  requires  but  little  attention; 
anything  is  thought  to  be  good  enough  for  him. 
He  is  regarded  (as  he  is)  as  an  omnivorous  animal, 
and  is  consequently  made  a  scavenger  for  town  and 
country.  Nothing  is  thought  to  be  too  filthy  for 
him  to  eat,  and  scarcely  any  attention  is  given  to 
his  comfort,  and  the  wintry  winds  and  pelting  snows 
mercilessly  beat  upon  him.  The  horse,  the  cow, 
and  the  sheep  are  provided  with  a  shelter  from  the 
cold  blasts  of  winter,  though  better  able  by  nature 


HISTORY  OF  THE  HOG.  15 

to  endure  it  than  he;  yet  the  poor  hog  is  left  to 
provide  for  himself  a  bed,  and  sometimes  even  food, 
as  best  he  may;  hence  they  crowd  together  in  the 
vain  effort  to  keep  warm,  while  many  of  them 
perish  either  from  cold  or  suffocation.  Many  farm- 
ers do  not  know,  or  if  they  do  know  it  ignore  the 
fact  already  stated,  that  the  hog  has  been  trans- 
planted from  a  warm,  genial  climate,  and  is  there- 
fore illy  prepared  to  endure  the  extreme  cold  of  the 
northern  section  of  our  country.  Thus  it  is  that 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  valuable  animals 
are  annually  swept  away  by  disease  and  exposure. 

If  the  humanity  of  those  who  rear  them  can  not 
be  touched,  their  cupidity,  it  would  seem,  ought 
to  prompt  them  to  a  more  rational  course.  To  the 
author  it  seems  simply  certain  that  nearly  all  the 
diseases  to  which  the  hog  is  subject  is  due  to  mis- 
management on  the  part  of  the  raiser.  The  testi- 
mony on  this  point  is  ample,  and  will  be  fully  set 
forth  in  the  proper  place.  The  above  declaration  is 
not  hastily  made,  but  after  much  study  and  obser- 
vation; not  confined  to  his  own  neighborhood  and 
county,  but  from  somewhat  extensive  travel  and 
inquiry  in  several  of  the  best  hog-growing  states 
of  the  Union. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  for  every  hog- 
raiser  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  nature 


16  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

and  habits  and  peculiarities  of  this  animal,  in  order 
that  he  may  understand  how  to  manage  it,  so  that 
he  shall  derive  both  pleasure  and  profit  thereby. 

There  is  another  view  of  this  matter  most  impor- 
tant, to  which  the  author  begs  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  reader;  viz.,  the  importance  of  healthy  meats. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  diseased  food,  whether 
animal  or  vegetable,  must  produce  like  results  in 
those  who  consume  it.  Can  any  one  doubt,  for 
example,  that  hogs  infested  by  those  terrible  little 
animals,  trichinae,  or  those  suffering  from  that  great 
scourge,  "hog  cholera,"  so-called,  can  be  eaten 
without  producing,  in  numerous  instances,  disas- 
trous results?  The  very  thought  of  introducing 
this  kind  of  food  into  the  stomach  is  revolting  and 
disgusting  in  the  extreme.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  this  poisoned  material  in  these  choleraed  hogs 
is  injurious;  some  of  our  low  forms  of  disease  are 
no  doubt  produced  in  this  way.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed that  farmers  are  not  all  scrupulous  about 
sending  these  diseased,  dying  animals  to  market. 
Who  can  pretend  to  estimate  the  ill  consequences 
of  this  wickedness  to  those  who  consume  this  de- 
caying, poisoned  flesh?  Hence  the  importance  of 
being  able  to  determine  which  is  sound  and  which 
diseased.  In  another  place  this  question  will  receive 
due  attention. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  HOG.  .     IT 

In  all  civilized  countries,  the  great  question,  How 
shall  the  poor  be  furnished  with  cheap,  wholesome 
food,  has  commanded  the  attention  of  the  wise  and 
good.  A  large  majority  of  the  human  race  may  be 
said  to  be  poor;  it  is  therefore  an  important  question. 
The  flesh  of  the  hog  furnishes  one  of  the  great 
staple  articles  of  food  to  all  classes,  particularly  in 
this  country. 

For  several  years  past  meats  of  all  kinds  have 
been  very  dear,  so  much  so  that  the  poor  have 
found  it  difficult  to  get  it  at  all.  This  has  been  in 
a  great  degree  due  to  the  scarcity  of  hogs,  and  this 
scarcity  was  due  to  the  immense  number  of  these 
animals  that  have  perished  by  disease.  This  scar- 
city, and  consequently  high  price,  must  continue  so 
long  as  these  animals  are  swept  away  by  disease 
and  bad  treatment,  and  the  mouths  of  the  poor  go 
unfilled  except  by  inferior  or  diseased  meats. 

Much  might  be  said  in  regard  to  the  varieties  of 
this  useful  animal.  There  has  been  much  discussion 
as  to  the  best  breeds  of  the  hog;  doubtless  each 
have  their  good  points.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of 
the  author  to  settle  these  disputes;  he  does  not 
undertake  to  decide  which  is  the  best,  but  Avould 
simply  say  that  much  depends  upon  the  object  the 
raiser  has  in  view.     Some  supply  the  daily  market 

of  our  cities.     When  this  is  the  design,  the  smaller 

2 


18  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

variety  will  best  suit;  but  if  for  packing  or  for  bacon, 
then  the  larger  breeds  are  unquestionably  best.  But, 
after  all,  each  raiser  must  decide  this  question  for 
himself.  This  question  will  perhaps  be  more  fully 
discussed  as  the  work  proceeds. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  allude  to  some 
of  the  traits  and  pecuHarities  of  the  hog.  The 
author  acknowledges  himself  indebted  to  Youatt, 
Martin,  and  others  for  much  of  interest  on  these 
points.  "Too  low  an  estimate  is  placed  upon  the 
sagacity  of  the  hog,"  says  Youatt.  "It  is  supposed 
to  be  a  sluggish,  stupid,  filthy  animal;  on  the  con- 
trary, he  has  repeatedly  shown  himself  to  be  exceed- 
ingly sagacious,  and  often  quite  intelligent.  Many 
anecdotes  illustrative  of  this  could  be  related.  But 
it  is  true  that  his  chief  business  is  to  eat,  sleep, 
drink,  and  grow  fat.  All  his  wants  in  this  respect, 
in  his  domesticated  state,  are  cared  for  (or  ought  to 
be),  and  his  world  is  limited  to  the  precincts  of  his 
sty  or  the  farm-yard;  yet,  in  this  state  of  luxurious 
ease,  individuals  have  shown  extraordinary  intelli- 
gence." 

As  to  his  filthiness,  it  will  be  interesting  to  those 
who  have  given  but  little  attention  to  the  habits  of 
the  hog,  to  quote  the  words  of  one  or  two  of  the  best 
writers  and  observers  on  this  point.  Youatt  says : 
"It  may  appear  absurd  to   claim  cleanliness  as  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  HOG.  19 

swinish  virtue;  but,  in  point  of  actual  fact,  the 
pig  is  a  much  more  cleanly  animal  than  most  of  his 
calumniators  give  him  credit  for  being.  He  is  fond 
of  a  good,  clean  bed,  and  often,  when  this  is  not  pro- 
^dded  for  him,  it  is  curious  to  see  the  degree  of  sagac- 
ity with  which  he  will  forage  for  himself."  "A  hog 
is  the  cleanest  of  all  creatures,  and  will  never  dung  or 
stale  in  his  sty  if  he  can  get  forth,"  says  a  quaint  old 
writer  of  llie  sixteenth  century;  and  we  are  very 
much  of  his  opinion.  But  it  is  so  much  the  habit 
to  believe  that  this  animal  may  be  kept  in  any  state 
of  filth  and  neglect,  that  ^^pig"  and  "pig-sty"  are 
terms  usually  regarded  as  synonymous  with  all  that 
is  dirty  and  disgusting.  Hisjrolling  in  the  mud  is 
alleged  against  him  as  proof  ofJusTKKy  habits;  if 
so','th'e~^same  accusation  apphes  to  the  elephant,  the 
rhinoceros,  and  all  other  of  the  Pacliydermaia.  May 
it  not  rather  be  for  the  coofing  of  themselves  and 
keeping  off  flies,  as  we  admit  it  to  be  in  the  case  of 
the  animals  above  mentioned?  Savages  cover  them- 
selves with  grease  in  hot  climates  in  order  to  protect 
their  skins;  may  not  instinct  teach  animals  to  roll 
themselves  in  mud  for  a  similar  purpose?  Pigs  are 
exceedingly  fond  of  comfort  and  warmth,  and  will 
nestle  closely  together  in  order  to  obtain  the  latter, 
and  often  struggle  vehemently  to  secure  the  warmest 
berth. 


20  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

Every  one  knows  with  what  sagacity  pigs  provide 
for  an  approaching  cold  "snap."  When  storms  are 
overhanging,  they  collect  straw  in  their  mouths^^^nd 
run_about  with  great  activity,  as  if  warning  their 
companions  to  prepare  for  the  approaching  storm. 
Hence  has  arisen  the  common  Wiltshire  saying, 
"Pigs  see  the  wind."  Virgil,  in  enumerating  the 
signs  of  settled  weather,  notices  this  pecuHarity  in 

swine — 

"IS'ow  sows  unclean  are  mindful  to  provide 
Their  nestling  beds  of  mouth-collected  straw." 

"In  their  domesticated  state,"  says  Youatt,  "swine 
certainly  are  very  greedy  animals.  Eating  is  the 
business  of  their  lives ;  nor  do  they  appear  to  be  deli- 
cate as  to  the  kind  or  quality  of  the  food  which  is 
set  before  them.  Although  naturally  herbivorous 
animals,  they  have  been  known  to  devour  carrion 
with  all  the  avidity  of  beasts  of  prey,  to  eat  and 
mangle  infants,  and  even  gorge  their  appetites  with 
their  own  young." 

All  this  is  accounted  for  by  another  writer,  whose 
views  commend  themselves  to  the  common  sense  and 
justice  of  all. 

Low,  an  able  writer,  says:  "Instances  have  oc- 
curred in  which  a  sow  has  been  known  to  devour 
her  young;  but  rarely,  if  ever,  does  this  happen  in  a 
state  of  nature.    It  is  not  unreasonable  to  beheve  that 


HISTORY  OF  THE  HOG.  21 

when  an  act  so  revolting  does  occur,  it  arises  more 
from  the  pain  and  irritation  produced  by  the  state 
of  confinement  and  often  filth  in  which  she  is  kept, 
and  the  disturbances  to  which  she  is  subject,  than 
from  any  actual  ferocity?  for  it  is  well  known  that 
a  sow  is  always  unusually  irritable  at  this  period, 
snapping  at  all  animals  that  approach  her.  If  she 
is  gently  treated,  properly  supphed  with  sustenance, 
and  sequestered  from  all  annoyance,  there  is  little 
danger  of  this  ever  happening.  Roots  and  fruits  are 
the  natural  food  of  the  hog,  in  a  wild  as  well  as  in  a 
domesticated  state,  and  it  is  evident  that,  however 
omnivorous  this  animal  may  occasionally  appear,  its 
palate  is  by  no  means  insensible  to  the  difference 
of  eatables;  for  whenever  it  finds  variety  it  will  be 
found  to  select  the  best  with  as  much  cleverness  as 
other  quadrupeds.^' 

"In  the  peach-tree  orchards  of  North  America," 
says  Peunaut,  "where  hogs  have  plenty  of  dehcious 
food,  they  have  been  observed  to  neglect  the  fruit 
that  has  lain  a  few  hours  upon  the  ground,  and 
patiently  wait  for  a  considerable  time  for  a  fresh 
windfall." 

According  to  Linnaeus,  "the  hog  is  more  nice  in 
the  selection  of  his  vegetable  diet  than  any  of  our 
other  domesticated  herbivorous  animals."  This  great 
naturalist  states  that  the  hog  is  more  choice  in  his 


22  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

selection,  than  either  the  cow,  goat,  sheep,  or  horse. 
This  is  shown  in  the  following  table : 

The  cow  eats  276  plants  and  rejects  218. 
The  goat  "  449  "  «  "  126. 
The  sheep  "     387        "  "         "        141. 

The  horse  "     262        "  "         "        212. 

The  hog       "       72        "  "         "        171. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  hog  is  a  much  more 
choice  animal  than  many  persons  would  have  been 
willing  to  admit. 

These  animals  have  also  a  very  keen  sense  of 
smell,  and  are  thus  enabled  to  discover  roots,  acorns, 
earth-nuts,  etc.,  buried  in  the  ground;  "and  in  Italy 
are  employed  in  hunting  for  truffles  that  grow  some 
inches  below  the  surface  of  the  soil." 

"The  last  charge  which  we  shall  attempt  to  re- 
fute," says  Youatt,  "is  that  of  intractability."  All 
the  offenses  which  swine  commit  are  attributed  to 
an  innately  bad  disposition ;  whereas  they  too  often 
arise  solely  from  bad  management  or  total  neglect. 
Would  horses  or  cattle  behave  one  iota  better  were 
they  treated  as  pigs  too  often  are?  They  are  legiti- 
mate objects  for  the  sport  of  idle  boys,  hunted  with 
dogs,  pelted  with  stones,  often  neglected  and  obliged 
to  find  a  meal  for  themselves,  or  wander  about  half 
starved.  Can  we  wonder  that  under  such  circum- 
stances they  should  be  wild,  unmanageable  brutes? 


HISTORY  OF  THE  HOG.  23 

Look  at  the  swine  in  a  well-regulated  farm-yard ;  they 
are  as  peaceable  and  as  little  disposed  to  wander  or 
trespass  as  any  of  the  other  animals  that  it  contains. 
Here,  as  in  many  other  things,  man  is  but  too  willing 
to  attribute  the  faults  which  are  essentially  of  his  own 
causing  to  any  other  than  their  true  source. 

Martin  says:  "It  has  been  usual  to  condemn  the 
domestic  hog  in  no  very  measured  terms  as  a  filthy, 
stupid  brute,  at  once  gluttonous,  obstinate,  and  des- 
titute of  intelligence.  Against  this  sweeping  cen- 
sure we  beg  leave  to  enter  our  protest.  With  regard 
to  the  filthiness  of  the  hog  in  a  state  of  confine- 
ment, every  thing  will  depend  on  the  trouble  taken 
by  its  keeper.  He  may  allow  the  sty  or  the  yard 
to  be  covered  with  filth  of  every  description,  as 
disgraceful  to  himself  as  it  is  injurious  to  the  ani- 
mals. In  this  case  the  hog  is  the  sufierer,  for  natur- 
ally it  delights  in  clean  straw,  luxuriating  in  it  with 
evident  pleasure;  its  twinkling  little  eyes  and  low 
grunt  expressing  its  feelings  of  contentment.  In 
fact,  the  hog,  so  far  from  being  the  filthiest,  is  one 
of  the  cleanest  of  our  domestic  quadrupeds,  and  is 
unwilling  to  soil  the  straw-bed  of  his  domicile  if 
anything  like  liberty  be  allowed  him."  The  above 
quotations  will  commend  themselves  as  simple  state- 
ments of  facts.  It  is  with  the  hog,  as  with  other 
domestic  animals,  "like  master  like  stock." 


24  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

The  viciousness,  filthiness,  and  other  bad  quali- 
ties of  the  hog  are  in  a  great  measure  due  to  their 
bad  management,  and  absolute  neglect  of  the  wants 
which  they  can  not  supply  themselves;  for,  as  has 
already  been  shown,  in  a  state  of  nature  before  they 
were  domesticated,  none  of  these  exceedingly  bad 
qualities  were  found  to  exist  among  them,  and  must 
therefore  be  justly  attributed  to  the  treatment  they 
have  received  in  their  domesticated  state. 

One  of  the  prime  objects  of  the  following  pages 
is  to  fully  set  forth,  that  everything  depends  upon 
the  management  of  this  excellent  animal;  that  he 
can  not  be  made  healthy  and  profitable,  and  at  the 
same  time  give  to  the  world  sound,  healthy,  abun- 
dant, cheap  food,  unless  this  matter  is  understood  by 
those  who  are  his  managers  and  owners.  'The  health 
and  happiness  of  millions  depends  upon  the  manner 
of  his  handling. 

The  author  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  filthy, 
stupid,  and  intractable  as  he  is  thought  by  many  to 
be,  there  is  no  way  of  truly  estimating  his  value  to 
the  world.  His  flesh,  lard,  oil,  hide,  hair,  bristles, 
and  bone  are  all  used,  some  for  food,  and  other  parts 
serve  to  supply  indispensable  wants  of  civilized 
humanity.  It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  this  much- 
abused  animal  has  had  a  few  admirers  in  the  literary 
world,  for  even  poets,  both  ancient  and  modern,  have 


HISTORY  OF  THE  HOG.  25 

not  overlooked  him.  The  reader  will  no  doubt  be 
amused  with  the  following  witty  and  sensible  piece 
copied  from  the  "  Louisville  Real  Estate  Bulletin  :" 

THE  HOG.    By  J.  C.  Milne. 

We  sing  the  Hog! — not  those  in  common  sties, 

But  that  which  roamed  unpenned  in  Paradise, 

And  furnished — next  to  that  "best  gift,"  dear  madame — 

An  extra  spare  rib  for  old  Father  Adam. 

But  if  you  doubt,  when  Eden's  garden  fair 

Bloom'd  fresh  and  lovely,  that  the  pig  was  there, 

You  '11  certainly  allow  (please  do  n't  forget) 

He  went  with  ISToah  in  out  of  the  wet; 

Yet  there  are  some  who  this  fact  would  dispute. 

And  out  of  that  old  ark  would  crowd  the  brute ! 

Said  my  friend  Dean  to  me  the  other  day, 
(My  friend,  the  treasurer)  in  his  Tauntin'  way. 
How  can  you  prove,  sir,  that  in  Noah's  boat 
The  hog  was  gathered  with  the  sheep  and  goat? 
Of  that,  quoth  I,  one  can  not  be  mistaken, 
For  was  n't  it  then  that  Noah  saved  his  bacon  ; 
And  did  he  not,  though  on  the  surging  brine. 
Have  his  Ham  there  whene'er  he  chose  to  dine  ? 
Dean  ceased  to  bristle — 'lowed  'twas  even  so. 
The  "critter"  figured  at  that  cattle-show! 

O,  much  abused  and  much  despised  beast! 
Men  slight  thee  most  who  know  thy  merits  least; 
Who  would  make  light  of  thee  should  try  thee  first, 
Then  with  thy  praise  they  inter-lard  their  verse. 
Without  thy  presence  at  the  festive  board, 
Tickling  the  palate  of  creation's  lord. 
In  bake  or  fry,  or  even  in  a  stew. 
Pray  what  could  we  or  our  good  housewives  do? 

3 


26  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

Sore  grief  would  seize  on  many  a  bosom  stout, 
If  perchance  the  hog  should  once  "step  out," 
And  life  become,  'mid  all  its  varying  scenes, 
Like  Sunday  morning  without  pork  and  beans! 

On  beef  and  mutton  Englishmen  expand. 
But  pork  's  the  crowning  glory  of  our  land; 
Pigs  are  true  patriots — in  the  Buckeye  State 
They  die  to  make  her  Cincinnati  great. 
Pork  to  the  Jew  is  every  way  unclean, 
Howe'er  prepared,  with  or  without  his  bean. 
Though  Paul  felt  free  from  Moses  here  to  swerve, 
The  Jew  still  deems  it  binding  to  observe. 
We  go  with  Paul,  as  every  one  supposes, 
As  for  the  Jew,  why — he  may  go  to  Moses  1 


THE  WILD  BOAK. 


27 


CHAPTEE    II. 


THE  WILD  BOAR. 

Description  of  him — Goes  in  search  of  his  food  at  night — Sense  of  smell 
— Manner  of  defending  herd  against  enemies — Their  age — Solitary 
habits  when  old — Habits  of  the  female — They  farrow  but  once  a  year — 
Laws  to  protect  the  boar  for  the  chase — Hogs  introduced  into  Amer- 
ica— Number  and  yalue  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  all  our  domesticated 
hogs,  of  every  variety,  have   sprung  originally  from 


WILD  BOAR. 


the  wild  hoar.     This  animal,  in  his  native  state,  is  an 
exceedingly  wild,  intractable  beast,  and  one  of  the 


28 


TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


most  vicious  and  dangerous  of  all  the  wild  animals  of 
the  jungles  and  forests  of  India  and  other  countries. 
The  preceding  cut  gives  a  very  good  idea  of  the  wild 
boar,  and  needs  but  to  be  seen  to  convince  one  of  his 
ferocity.  "  This  animal,"  says  Youatt,  "  is  generally 
of  a  dusky  brown  or  iron-gray  color,  inclining  to 
black,  and  diversified  with  black  spots  or  streaks. 
The  body  is  covered  with  coarse  hair,  intermixed 
with  a  downy  wool ;  these  hairs  become  bristles  as 
they  approach  the  neck  and  shoulders,  and  are  here 
so  long  as  to  form  a  species  of  mane,  which  the  ani- 
mal erects  when  irritated.  The  head  is  short;  the 
forehead  broad  and  flat;  the  ears  short,  rounded  at 
the  tips,  and  inclined  toward  the  neck;  the  jaws 
armed  with  sharp,  crooked  tusks,  which  curve  slightly 
upward,  and  are  capable  of  inflicting  fearful  wounds ; 
the  eye  full ;  neck  thick  and  muscular ;  the  shoulder 
high;  the  loins  broad;  the  tail  stiff,  finished  off  with 
a  tuft  of  bristles  at  the  tip ;  the  haunch  well  turned, 
and  the  legs  strong.  A  full-grown  wild  boar  in  India 
averages  from  thirty  to  forty  inches  in  height  at  the 
shoulder.  The  African  wild  boar  is  about  twenty- 
eight  or  thirty  inches  high.  The  wild  boar  is  a  very 
active  and  powerful  animal,  and  becomes  fiercer  as  he 
grows  older.  When  he  exists  in  a  state  of  nature,  he 
will  usually  be  found  in  moist,  shady,  and  well-wooded 
situations,  not  far  remote  from  streams  of  water.    In 


THE  WILD  BOAR.  29 

India  they  are  found  in  the  thick  jungles,  in  planta- 
tions of  sugar-canes,  rice  or  rhus,  or  in  the  thick 
patches  of  high,  long  grass."  * 

"  In  England,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  Spain 
their  resorts  have  been  in  the  woods  and  forests. 
They  seldom  quit  then-  coverts  during  the  day,  but 
prowl  about  in  search  of  food  during  twilight  and  the 
night.  Their  acute  sense  of  smell  enables  them  to 
detect  the  presence  of  roots  or  fruits  deeply  imbed- 
ded in  the  soil,  and  they  often  do  considerable  mis- 
chief by  plowing  up  the  ground  in  search  of  them, 
particularly  as  they  do  not,  like  the  common  hog,  root 

^  "  The  wild  hog  delights  in  cultivated  situations,  but  will 
not  remain  where  water  is  not  at  hand,  in  which  he  can 
quench  his  thirst  and  wallow  at  his  ease ;  nor  will  he  resort 
a  second  season  to  a  spot  that  does  not  afford  ample  cover, 
either  of  heavy  grass  or  underwood  jungle,  within  a  cer- 
tain distance  of  him,  to  fly  to  in  case  of  molestation,  and 
especially  to  serve  as  a  retreat  during  the  hot  season,  as 
otherwise  he  would  find  no  shelter.  The  sugar-cane  is  his 
great  delight,  both  as  affording  his  favorite  food  and  yield- 
ing a  highly  impervious  and  unfrequented  situation.  In 
these  the  hogs  and  breeding  sows  especially  commit  greiit 
devastation;  for  the  latter  not  only  devour  but  cut  the 
canes  for  a  litter,  and  to  throw  up  a  species  of  hut,  which 
they  do  with  much  art,  leaving  a  small  entrance,  which 
they  can  stop  up  at  pleasure.  Sows  never  quit  their  you  no- 
pigs  without  completely  shutting  them  up.  This  is,  how- 
ever, requisite  for  a  few  days,  after  which  the  little  oru^s 
may  be  seen  following  their  mother,  at  a  good  round  ]);.■  • 
though  evidently  not  more  than  a  Aveek  or  ten  il'dy- 
(Williams's  Oriental  Field  Sports.) 


30  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

up  a  little  spot,  here  and  there,  but  plow  long  con- 
tinued furrows." 

The  wild  boar,  properly  so  called,  is  neither  a  sol- 
itary nor  a  gregarious  animal.  For  the  first  two  or 
three  years  the  whole  herd  follows  the  sow,  and  all 
unite  in  defense  against  any  enemies,  calling  upon 
each  other  with  loud  cries  in  case  of  emergency,  and 
forming  in  regular  line  of  battle,  the  weakest  occu- 
pying the  rear.  But  when  arrived  at  maturity,  the 
animals  wander  alone,  as  if  in  perfect  consciousness  of 
their  strength,  and  appear  as  if  they  neither  sought 
nor  avoided  any  living  creature.  They  are  said  to 
live  about  thirty  years.  As  they  grow  old,  the  hair 
becomes  gray,  and  the  tusks  begin  to  show  symp- 
toms of  decay.  Old  boars  are  rarely  found  associ- 
ating with  a  herd,  but  seem  to  keep  apart  from  the 
rest  and  from  each  other. 

The  female  produces  but  one  litter  in  the  year,  and 
her  Utters  are  much  smaller  in  number  than  those  of 
the  domesticated  pig.  She  carries  her  young  sixteen 
or  twenty  weeks,  and  generally  is  only  seen  with  the 
male  during  the  rutting  season.  She  suckles  her 
young  for  several  months,  and  continues  to  protect 
them  for  some  time  afterward;  if  attacked  then  she 
will  defend  herself  and  them  with  exceeding  courage 
and  fierceness.  Many  sows  will  often  be  found  herd- 
ing together,  each  followed  by  her  Utter  of  young 


THE  WILD  BOAR.  31 

ones,  and  in  such  parties  they  are  exceedingly  formi- 
dable to  man  and  beast.  Neither  they  nor  the  boar, 
however,  appear  to  want  to  attack  any  thing;  but  only 
when^roused_  by  aggression,  or  disturbed  in  their  re- 
treat, do  they  turn  upon  their  enemies,  and  manifest 
their  mighty  strength  with  which  nature  has  endowed 
them;  otherwise  they  pursue  their  way  in  a  kind  of 
solitary,  savage  majesty.  Occasionally,  when  two 
males  encounter  each  other,  a  fierce  and  furious  battle 
will  ensue,  especially  if  this  happen  during  the  rut- 
ting season,  when  theu'  passions  are  inflamed. 

"  When  attacked  by  dogs,  the  wild  boar  sullenly 
retreats,  turning  upon  them,  from  time  to  time,  and 
menacing  them  with  his  tusks  ;  but  gradually  his  ire 
rises,  and  at  length  he  stands  at  bay,  fights  furiously 
for  his  life,  and  tears  and  rends  his  persecutors.  He 
has  even  been  observed  to  single  out  the  most  tor- 
menting of  them  and  rush  savagely  upon  him. 

"  Hunting  the  wild  boar  has  been  a  favorite  sport 
in  almost  all  the  countries  in  which  this  animal  was 
found,  from  the  earliest  ages.  The  wild  boar  formed 
part  of  the  sports,  pageants,  and  wild-beast  shows 
and  fights  of  the  Romans." 

During  the  middle  ages  hunting  the  wild  boar 
formed  the  amusement  of  the  nobihty  in  most  Euro- 
pean countries.  The  dogs  provided  for  this  sport 
were  of   the  slow,  heavy  kind,  anciently  known  by 


32  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

the  name  of  the  'boar-hound.'  None  but  the  largest 
and  oldest  boars  were  hunted,  and  these  afforded  a 
very  exciting  and  often  dangerous  sport,  lasting  for 
many  hours ;  for  when  first  the  animal  was  '  reared' 
he  contented  himself  with  slowly  going  away,  just 
keeping  ahead  of  his  pursuers,  and  apparently  caring 
but  Httle  for  them,  and  pausing  every  half  mile  to 
rest  himself  and  give  battle  to  his  assailants,  who 
are,  however,  too  wary  to  advance  upon  him  until  he 
becomes  tired ;  then  he  takes  his  final  stand,  and  the 
dogs  and  hunters  surround  him,  and  a  mortal  combat 
ensues,  in  which  the  beast  eventually  falls  a  victim. 

"  Many  of  the  forests  in  our  own  country  (Eng- 
land) were  infested  by  w^ild  boars.  The  Anglo- 
Saxons  seem,  from  the  rude  frescoes  and  prints  which 
are  handed  down  to  us,  to  have  hunted  this  animal  on 
foot,  with  no  weapon  but  the  boar-spear,  and  attended 
by  powerful  dogs  ;  and  apparently  with  such  success 
that  at  the  Norman  Conquest  William  I.  thought  it 
necessary  to  make  some  strict  laws  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  beast  of  the  chase.  The  period  for  hunt- 
ing the  wild  boar  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  was  in 
September.  Howell  Dha,  the  celebrated  Welsh  law- 
giver, gave  permission  to  his  chief  to  chase  the  boar 
from  the  middle  of  November  until  the  end  of  De- 
cember." 

These  animals  continued  to  linger  in  the  forests  of 


THE  WILD  BOAR.  33 

England  and  Scotland  for  several  centuries  after 
the  Norman  Conquest,  and  many  tracts  of  land  have 
derived  their  name  from  this  occurrence;  while  in- 
stances of  valor  in  their  destruction  are  recorded  in 
the  heraldic  devices  of  many  a  noble  family. 

Fitzstephen,  a  writer  of  the  twelfth  century,  in- 
forms us  that  wild  boars,  stags,  fallow-deer,  and  bulls 
abounded  in  the  vast  forests  which  existed  on  the 
northern  side  of  London  in  the  time  of  Henry  II. 
The  learned  Whittaker  informs  us  that  this  animal 
roved  at  liberty  over  the  woods  of  the  parish  of  Man- 
chester for  many  centuries  after  the  Uomans  de- 
parted from  that  station,  and  hence  the  name  of 
Barlow  (boar-growid)  came  to  be  assigned  to  a  dis- 
trict in  the  south-western  portion.  In  Cumberland 
the  appellation  "  Wild  Boar's  FeU "  still  points  out 
the  shire  of  Stainmore,  in  Westmoreland,  and  those 
extensive  woody  districts  which  once  existed  in 
Hertfordshire  and  over  the  Chiltem  HiUs  were  for- 
merly peopled  with  wild  boars,  wolves,  stags,  and 
wild  buUs. 

Many  ancient  Scottish  writers  too  speak  of  the 
existence  of  this  animal  in  the  woods  of  Caledonia. 
In  the  county  of  Fife  there  exists  a  tract  of  country 
formerly  called  Muckross  (which,  in  the  Celtic,  sig- 
nifies Boar's  Promontory).  It  is  said  to  have  been 
famous  as  the  haunt  of  the  wild  boar.     One  part  of 


34  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

it  was  called  the  Boar  Hills,  which  name  has  since 
been  corrupted  into  Byro  Hills.  It  lies  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  St.  Andrews,  and  in  the  Cathedral  church  of 
that  city  two  enormous  boar's  tusks  were  formerly  to 
be  seen,  chained  to  the  high  altar,  in  commemoration 
of  an  immense  brute  slain  by  the  inhabitants  after 
it  had  long  ravaged  the  surrounding  country. 

In  America,  Australia,  and  the  Polynesian  Group, 
the  hog  was  unknown  originally  in  a  natural  condi- 
tion; but  having  been  turned  out  everywhere  by 
the  early  navigators,  who  discovered  the  coasts  and 
islands  of  the  Pacific,  he  has  propagated  his  species 
so  rapidly  in  these  mild  and  moist  latitudes  that  he 
is  now  everywhere  abundant,  both  in  confinement 
and  in  a  state  of  nature.* 

Swine  were  probably  introduced  from  Spain  into 
Hispaniola,  by  Columbus,  in  1493  ;  into  Florida,  by 
De  Soto,  in  1538  ;  into  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Found- 
land,  in  1553 ;  into  Canada,  in  1608 ;  and  into  Vir- 
ginia, in  1609,  where  they  multiplied  so  rapidly  that 
in  eighteen  years  the  people  were  obhged  to  palisade 
Jamestown  to  keep  them  out.f  From  these  points 
the  hog  has  been  carried  to  all  parts  of  North  Amer- 
ica, and  although  he  thrives  best  in  a  warm,  genial 

*Kew  American  Cyclopedia,  Yol.  III. 
-j-New  American  Cyclopedia,  Yol.  III. 


THE  WILD  BOAR.  35 

climate,  yet,  like  man,  he  becomes  accustomed  to  all 
climates  and  countries. 

The  generative  power  of  this  animal  is  truly  as- 
tonishing; it  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  most  prohfic  of 
the  animal  creation.  Yauban  tells  us  that  a  single 
sow,  with  only  six  young  at  a  time,  in  ten  genera- 
tions, will  produce  6,500,000,  of  which  500,000  may 
be  deducted  on  account  of  accidental  death.* 

Sweeping  over  a  long  period,  from  the  time  they 
were  first  introduced  down  to  the  year  1856,  and 
notwithstanding  the  vicissitudes  of  disease  and  bad 
management  through  which  they  have  passed,  there 
were  in  that  year  the  enormous  number  of  40,000,- 
000  of  these  animals  in  the  United  States  alone,  the 
value  of  which,  at  seven  dollars  a  head,  would  amount 
to  $280,000,000.  If  this  animal,  whose  flesh,  fat, 
hair,  and  bones  are  so  valuable,  can  be  improved  even 
to  the  amount  of  one  dollar  for  every  animal,  what 
an  immense  sum  will  be  realized  to  the  farmer !  -j* 

*New  American  Cyclopedia,  Yol.  IX. 
-j-JSTew  American  Cyclopedia,  Yol.  IX. 


36 


TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


CHAPTER   III. 

DOMESTICATION— DIFFEEENT   BREEDS. 

Different  breeds  crossed  and  recrossed  to  improve  the  stock — Names 
applied  to  the  breeds  produced — First  improved  breeds  imported  to 
America  a  present  to  Washington — Caution  against  imposition  in 
selecting  blooded  hogs  —  Improved  breeds  at  county  fairs — Selection 
of  breeds — Color,  etc, 

From  the  wild  hog  abeady  spoken  of  the  domes- 
tic hog,  wherever  found,  has  sprung.     But  at  what 


^^ycf(~, 


THE  IMPROVED  HOG. 


time  cross-breeding  for  the  improvement  of  the  wild 
animal  began  we  are  not  certainly  informed.  We 
are  told  "  that  the  ancient  Romans  made  the  art  of 
breeding  a  study." 


DOMESTICATION.  37 

England  seems  to  have  taken  the  lead  in  the  im- 
provement of  the  various  breeds  of  swine.  The 
swine-raisers  of  the  different  provinces  of  England 
have  selected  the  fine-boned  hogs  of  China  to  cross 
with  the  larger  breeds  of  England  and  other  coun- 
tries. In  fact,  they  have  selected  and  crossed  and 
recrossed  the  different  breeds  from  different  countries, 
and  have  been  remarkably  successful  in  producing 
hogs  that  yield  the  most  pork  and  lard  with  the 
least  possible  amount  of  food.  In  this  way  the 
various  names  have  arisen.  As  each  province  or 
shire  or  county  produced  a  new  variety,  a  new 
name  was  given;  thus  we  have  Berkshire,  Suffolk, 
Essex,  etc. 

Few  breeds  of  the  present  day  have  the  names 
of  their  native  country,  and  show  few  if  any  marks 
of  the  original  stock.  We  have  no  accurate  knowl- 
edge in  regard  to  the  breeds  first  brought  to  America, 
or  their  history  afterward;  only  that  they  increased 
rapidly,  and  from  the  abundance  of  herbs,  roots, 
nuts,  etc.,  they  kept  in  such  good  condition  that 
they  made  good  pork  and  bacon  with  but  little  if 
any  additional  food. 

The  first  hogs  of  the  improved  kind  brought  to 
this  country,  of  which  we  have  any  exact  account, 
is  the  Woburn  or  Bedford,  which  were  sent  by  the 
Duke  of  Bedford  to  General  Washington  as  a  present, 


38  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

and  were  produced  at  Woburn,  England,  by  a  cross 
of  the  Chinese  boar  and  a  large  English  hog.* 

While  we  would  encourage  the  raising  of  the 
improved  breeds  only,  we  wish  to  caution  buyers 
against  imposition.  It  is  now  a  very  common  thing 
to  see  advertisements  of  blooded  hogs  for  sale,  and 
often  too  at  very  high  figures.  Many  of  these  ad- 
vertised hogs  are  all  that  is  claimed  for  them  no 
doubt,  while  others  are  very  far  from  it,  and  are 
little  if  any  better  than  a  cross  with  the  common 
rough  hog,  but  kept  in  fine  condition,  and  sold  under 
false  representations  to  persons  at  a  distance,  or  to 
those  who  know  but  little  about  stock,  and  are  un- 
able to  judge  whether  the  animal  has  the  points  of 
the  improved  hog  or  not.  In  order  to  illustrate  this 
the  author  will,  he  hopes,  be  pardoned  for  relating 
the  following  anecdote. 

A  prominent  Kentucky  farmer  took  a  great  fancy 
to  the  Chester  white  hog,  now  so  popular  with 
many  farmers.  He  went  to  an  adjoining  state  and 
purchased  a  young  boar;  the  pig  was  in  splendid 
condition — was,  in  a  word,  fat  and  fine ;  he  prepared 
suitable  quarters  for  his  pigship's  accommodation 
and  comfort.  Our  friend  took  great  pleasure  and 
pains  to  show  his  new  purchase  to  his  admiring 
neighbors ;  he  grew  eloquent  in  his  description  of 
*]S"ew  American  Cyclopedia,  Yol.  IX. 


DOMESTICATION.  39 

the  little  boar  and  the  results  to  follow  in  the  im- 
provement of  his  herd,  and  how  much  better  this 
animal  was  than  his  old  common  kind.  Some  of  his 
auditors  were,  however,  rather  skeptical  in  regard  to 
the  matter.  Our  friend  had  some  nice  young  boars 
which  to  our  skeptical  friends  bore  a  marvelous  like- 
ness to  his  new  Chester  boar — they  were  the  same 
size,  color,  and  in  many  respects  favored  the  new 
comer.  Some  young  men  who  had  heard  him  des- 
cant on  the  beauties  of  the  new  boar  for  a  week  or 
two,  determined  to  test  the  matter,  and  they  were 
mischievous  enough  to  catch  one  of  the  young  boars 
of  the  old  stock  and  put  him  in  the  place  of  the 
Chester,  and  put  him  with  the  herd,  first  putting  a 
mark  on  him  by  which  they  would  easily  recognize 
him.  The  owner  continued  to  boast  of  his  Chester 
boar  and  show  him  to  his  friends  without  noticing 
the  change;  when  informed  of  the  trick  he  could 
scarcely  be  made  to  believe  that  he  could  have  been 
so  deceived.  Now  the  plain  fact  in  the  case  was 
he  had  been  deceived;  he  had  only  a  good  common 
boar,  and  no  Chester  white  at  all;  and  did  not,  in 
fact,  know  enough  about  the  essential  features  of 
that  animal  by  which  he  could  have  easily  deter- 
mined the  point ;  thus  he  had  relied  upon  the  name 
and  not  upon  the  qualities  of  the  hog.  In  this  way 
doubtless  many  farmers  are  deceived.     The  author 


40  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

hopes  the  anecdote  just  related  may  furnish  a  hint  to 
badly-informed  buyers  of  stock  for  breeding  purposes. 

Upon  this  point  Beaty  gives  the  following  good 
advise :  "  I  would  now  desire  to  caution  the  reader 
against  being  led  away  by  mere  name  in  his  selec- 
tion of  a  pig.  A  pig  may  be  called  a  Berkshire,  or 
a  Suffolk,  or  any  other  breed  most  in  estimation,  and 
yet  may  in  reality  possess  none  of  this  valuable 
blood.  The  only  sure  mode  by  which  the  buyer  will 
be  able  to  avoid  imposition  is  to  make  name  always 
secondary  to  points.  If  you  find  a  pig  possessed 
of  such  points  of  form  as  are  calculated  to  insure 
early  maturity  and  facility  of  taking  flesh,  you  need 
care  Httle  what  it  has  seemed  good  to  the  seller 
to  call  him,  and  remember  that  no  name  can  bestow 
value  upon  an  animal  deficient  in  the  qualities  to  which 
I  have  alludedr  * 

It  is  a  fact,  as  the  author  has  many  times  verified, 
that  hogs  of  the  same  name  differ  widely  in  differ- 
ent localities,  and  indeed  many  of  these  were  no 
better  than  the  common  hog. 

For  the  last  half  century  pork  has  formed  one  of 
the  'principal  articles  of  commerce,  and  the  produc- 
tion of  this  article  has  given  employment  to  millions 
of  laborers.  The  great  object  in  this  matter  of  breeds, 
and  the  improvement  of  breeds  of  hogs,  has  been  to 
*  Agriculture  and  Domestic  Animals. 


DOMESTICATION.  41 

secure  such  as  were  hardy,  and  such  as  would  make 
the  most  porJc  and  lard  with  the  least  amount  of  food. 
With  this  object  in  view,  the  American  farmer  has 
perhaps  tested  most  of  the  best  breeds  known  with- 
out coming  to  any  definite  conclusion  as  to  which 
is  the  best  adapted  to  this  very  important  purpose. 
This  fact  has  been  fully  tested  at  the  various  state 
and  county  fairs,  where  the  different  breeds  have 
competed  for  the  prize;  for  at  one  or  another  of 
these  fairs  all  of  the  improved  breeds  have  taken 
the  premium;  so  that  no  one  of  these  breeds  has 
been  by  anything  like  general  consent  decided  supe- 
rior to  all  the  rest.  So  that,  after  all,  each  one  must 
determine  for  himself  which  one  of  the  most  es- 
teemed breeds  he  will  raise,  remembering  that  early 
maturity  and  facility  of  taking  flesh  are  the  great 
desiderata,  and  not  the  name,  to  be  observed  in 
making  choice  for  breeding. 

The  chief  points  which  characterize  such  a  pig 
are  the  following :  In  the  first  place,  sufficient  depth 
of  carcass,  and  such  an  elongation  of  body  as  will 
insure  a  sufficient  lateral  expansion.  Let  the  loin 
and  breast  be  broad.  The  breadth  of  the  former 
denotes  good  room  for  the  play  of  the  lungs,  and  a 
consequent  free  and  healthy  circulation  essential  to 
the  thriving  and  fattening  of  any  animal.'^'    The  bone 

*Beaty  on  Agriculture  and  Domestic  Animals. 

4 


42  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

should  be  small  and  the  joints  fine;  nothing  is  more 
indicative  of  high  breeding  than  this;  and  the  legs 
should  be  no  longer  than,  when  fully  fat,  would  just 
prevent  the  animal's  belly  from  traihng  upon  the 
ground.  The  leg  is  the  least  profitable  portion  of  the 
hog,  and  we  therefore  require  no  more  of  it  than  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  rest. 
See  that  the  feet  be  firm  and  sound;  that  the  toes  lie 
well  together  and  press  straightly  upon  the  ground ; 
as  also,  that  the  claws  are  even,  upright,  and 
healthy.  * 

Many  say  that  the  form  of  the  head  is  of  little 
or  no  importance,  and  that  a  good  pig  may  have  an 
ugly  head,  it  being  no  affair  of  anybody  but  of  the 
animal  himself  who  has  to  carry  it;  but  I  regard 
the  head  of  all  animals  as  one  of  the  very  princi- 
pal points  in  which  pure  or  impure  breeding  will  be 
the  most  obviously  indicated.  A  high-bred  animal 
will  invariably  be  found  to  arrive  more  speedily  at 
maturity,  to  take  flesh  earlier  and  with  greater  facil- 
ity, and  altogether  to  turn  out  more  profitably  than 
one  of  the  questionable  or  impure  stock;  and  such 
being  the  case,  I  consider  that  the  head  of  the  hog 
is  by  no  means  a  point  to  be  overlooked  by  the  in- 
tended purchaser.  The  description  of  head  most 
likely  to  promise,  or  rather  to  be  concomitant  of 
*Beaty  on  Agriculture  and  Domestic  Animals. 


DOMESTICATION. 


43 


high  breeding,  is  one  not  carrying  heavy  bone,  not 
too  flat  on  the  forehead,  or  possessing  a  too  elongated 
snout;  indeed  the  snout  should,  on  the  other  hand, 
be  short,  and  the  forehead  rather  convex,  recurving 
upward,  and  the  ear  should  be,  while  pendulous, 
inclining  somewhat  forward,  and  at  the  same  time 
light  and  thin.  Nor  would  I  have  the  buyer  even 
to  pass  over  the  carriage  of  the  pig.  If  this  be  dull, 
heavy,  and  dejected,  I  would  be  disposed  to  reject 
him  on  suspicion  of  ill  health,  if  not  of  some  con- 
cealed disorder  actually  existing,  or  just  about  to 
break  forth;  and  there  can  not  be  a  more  unfavorable 


UNIMPROVED   HOG 


Symptom  than  a  hung-down,  slouching  head,  carried 
as  though  it  were  about  to  be  employed  as  a  fifth 
leg.  Of  course^  if  you  are  purchasing  a  fat  hog  for 
slaughter,  or  a  sow  heavy  with  young,  you  are 
scarcely  to   look  for  much   sprightliness  of   deport- 


44  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

ment;  but  I  am  alluding  more  particularly  to  the 
purchase  of  young  stores,  the  more  general  because 
the  most  jDrofi table  branch  of  pig  management.* 

As  to  color,  the  author  does  not  conceive  it  neces- 
sary to  say  much.  In  a  general  way,  he  believes 
that  colored  hogs  are  more  hardy,  and  less  liable  to 
diseases  of  the  skin  than  white,  and  that  color  should 
no  longer  be  considered  particularly  characteristic  of 
fine  blood.  If  the  hog  is  intended  for  home  con- 
sumption, perhaps  white  should  be  chosen,  on  account 
of  apparent  cleanliness,  but  if  for  sale  color  is  of  but 
little  consequence.  There  must  of  necessity  be  a 
diversity  of  taste  and  opinion  on  this  subject,  as 
every  good  breed  has  its  advocates  and  admirers, 
regardless  of  color  or  other  peculiarity. 

*Beatty'8  Agriculture  and  Domestic  Animals. 


BREEDING.  45 


CHAPTER   IV. 

BREEDING. 

Objects  to  be  attained — To  secure  healthy  and  prolific  hogs — Selections 
of  breeders — Pigs  inherit  qualities  of  parents — Fecundity  of  breed- 
ers— In-and-in  breeding — Proper  age  of  breeders — Directions  and 
advice  of  raisers — Time  the  sow  carries  her  young — Abortion — Sows 
devour  their  young — Treatment  of  sows  while  suckling — "Weaning — 
Proper  time  for  farrowing. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  author's  intention  to  attempt 
to  give  any  special  directions  on  breeding,  or  cross- 
breeding, with  a  view  to  the  improvement  of  our 
already  excellent  varieties  of  hogs,  for  he  is  free  to 
confess  that  this  matter  has  not  sufficiently  engaged 
his  attention;  but  to  give  his  experience  and  obser- 
vations, extending  over  many  years,  with  the  view 
mainly  of  producing  at  the  same  time  both  healthy 
and  prolific  hogs.  The  author  begs  to  call  the  read- 
er's especial  attention  to  the  following  observations, 
for  they  embrace,  not  only  his  own  experience,  but 
also  the  experience  of  those  deserving  of  the  highest 
respect.      Youatt,  Beaty,  and  others  will  be  quoted. 

This  matter  of  breeding  can  not  be  too  closely 
studied  by  those  who  would  succeed  in  hog  culture. 


46  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOa. 

Many  evils  and  great  losses  have  resulted  from  in- 
attention to  this  matter.  Most  of  these  evils  may 
be  obviated  by  careful  attention  to  a  few  well  recog- 
nized principles  of  breeding.  The  farmer  has  a 
right  to  expect  the  greatest  and  best  yield  of  the 
fruits  of  the  ground,  when  he  has  given  every  atten- 
tion to  the  preparation  of  the  soil,  and  due  diligence 
to  the  cultivation  of  his  crop ;  it  is  no  less  true  in 
regard  to  his  domestic  animals.  It  is  a  law  of  Na- 
ture that  'Hike  shall  beget  like,'-  so  that  if  impure  or 
imperfect  seed  be  sown,  the  farmer  can  not  expect  a 
good  crop  nor  a  good  article  of  grain.  So  too  per- 
fectly healthy,  thrifty  animals  can  not  be  produced 
from  unhealthy  and  imperfect  parents.  The  first 
point  therefore  to  be  attended  to  is  the  selection  of 
the  male  and  female  intended  to  be  kept  as  breeders, 
and  to  those  points  characteristic  of  good  breeders, 
the  reader's  attention  is  now  directed. 

It  is  a  generally  admitted  fact  in  the  principles  of 
breeding  that  the  offspring  usually  inherit  the  bodily 
and  constitutional  qualities  of  one  or  both  parents ; 
and  in  swine  it  is  the  boar  whose  qualities  chiefly 
predominate  in  the  offspring ;  hence,  it  will  be  nec- 
essary most  carefully  to  select  the  male  animal.* 

"  In  the  breeding  of  swine,  as  much  as  in  that  of 
any  other  live  stock,  it  is  important  to  pay  great  at- 

*Youatt. 


BREEDINa.  47 

tention  not  only  to  the  breed,  but  also  to  the  choice 
of  individuals.  The  sow  should  produce  a  great 
number  of  young,  and  she  must  be  well  fed,  to  ena- 
ble her  to  support  them.  Some  sows  bring  forth 
ten,  twelve,  or  even  fifteen  at  a  birth,  but  eight  or 
ten  is  the  usual  number,  and  sows  which  produce 
fewer  than  this  must  be  rejected.  It  is,  however, 
probable  that  fecundity  depends  also  on  the  boar; 
he  should,  therefore,  be  chosen  from  a  race  which 
multiplies  quickly."* 

In  selecting  the  parents  of  your  future  stock,  you 
must  diligently  bear  in  mind  the  precise  object  you 
may  have  in  view,  whether  the  rearing  be  for  pork 
or  bacon,  and  whether  you  desire  to  meet  the  earliest 
market,  and  thus  realize  a  certain  profit,  with  the 
least  possible  outlay  of  money,  or  loss  of  time;  or 
whether  you  mean  to  be  contented  to  await  a  heavier, 
although  somewhat  protracted,  return. 

If  bacon  and  the  late  market  be  your  object,  you 
wiU  do  weU  to  select  the  large  and  heavy  varieties, 
taking  care  to  ascertain  that  the  breed  has  the  char- 
acter of  being  at  once  possessed  of  those  qualities 
most  likely  to  answer  a  heavy  return  sure — ^namely, 
growth,  and  facility  for  taking  fat.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  your  obj-ect  be  to  produce  pork,  you  wiU  of 
course  find  your  account   in   the   smaller  varieties, 

*Thaer. 


48  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

such  as  arrive  with  greatest  rapidity  at  maturity, 
and  which  are  likely  to  produce  the  most  delicate 
flesh.  In  producing  pork  it  is  not  advisable  that 
it  should  be  too  fat  without  a  corresponding  propor- 
tion of  lean,  and  on  this  account  I  would  recommend 
that  you  rather  take  a  cross-breed  sow  than  a  pure 
Chinese  stock,  from  which  the  over-fattening  results 
might  most  naturally  be  apprehended.  The  Berkshire 
crossed  with  the  Chinese  is  about  the  best  porker.* 

In  selecting  the  breed  of  hogs  to  raise  from,  the 
following  rules  should  be  observed,  for  upon  them 
the  success  of  the  raiser  wiU  greatly  depend:  1.  If 
the  object  be  to  raise  such  as  will  be  best  adapted 
to  packing,  and  such  as  will  best  suit  the  views  of 
"pork  packers,"  the  large  breeds,  such  as  will  mature 
in  from  one  to  two  years,  wiU  be  preferable,  as  the 
packers  greatly  prefer  large  hogs,  and  will  pay  a 
higher  price  for  such  than  for  the  smaller  variety. 

2.  If  the  object  be  to  supply  the  city  or  butchers' 
market,  the  small,  fine-boned  varieties  will  unques- 
tionably be  the  best  for  the  reason  that  they  matm^e 
early  and  take  on  fat  with  greater  facility,  indeed 
may   be    fattened    on    less   food   and   at    any   age. 

3.  But  if  the  object  be  to  raise  for  pork  and  ba- 
con for  home  consumption  alone,  we  prefer  a  cross 
between  the  two  extremes. 

*  Beaty— Youatt. 


BREEDING.  49 

The  boar  and  sow  should  both  be  selected  from 
healthy  parents,  and  they  themselves  be  without 
blemish  or  defect  of  any  kind,  and  at  the  same  time 
well  adapted  in  regard  to  size  and  form  to  produce 
such  animals  in  every  particular  as  the  raiser  con- 
templates. The  boar  and  sow  should  not  be  near 
of  kin,  or  as  Bailey  expresses  it,  "breeding  within 
too  close  degrees  of  consanguinity,  or,  as  it  is  tech- 
nically styled,  breeding  ^in  and  in,'  is  calculated  to 
produce  degeneracy  in  size,  and  also  to  impair  the 
animal's  fertility." 

A  good-sized  sow  is  generally  considered  more 
likely  to  prove  a  good  breeder  and  nurse,  and  to 
farrow  more  easily  and  safely,  than  a  small,  delicate 
animal.  Few  of  our  domestic  animals  suffer  so  much 
from  being  bred  in  and  in  as  swine.  Where  this 
system  is  pursued,  the  number  of  young  ones  is 
decreased  at  every  litter  until  the  sows  become  in  a 
manner  barren.  As  soon  as  the  slightest  tendency 
to  this  degeneracy  is  observed,  the  breed  should  be 
crossed  from  time  to  time,  keeping  sight,  however, 
while  so  doing,  of  the  aim  in  view.'''  The  author 
wishes  to  impress  upon  the  reader  the  prime  impor- 
tance of  selecting  none  hut  healthy  animals  fo?'  breed- 
ers', if  this  be  neglected,  disappointment  will  certainly 
be  the  result.  Closely  connected  with  the  latter  is 
*Yoiiatt  on  the  Hog. 


50  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

another  nearly  equally  important  matter;  namely, 
the  too  common  habit  of  allowing  the  animal  to  breed 
at  too  early  an  age.  The  boar  should  not  be  used 
as  a  breeder  until  he  is  about  ten  months  old,  by 
this  time,  if  he  has  been  properly  kept,  his  genera- 
tive powers  are  sufficiently  developed  to  produce  full 
and  well-matured  litters.  At  this  age  he  should  be 
allowed  to  make  but  one  leap  per  day,  for  if  he  is 
allowed  to  run  with  the  sows  at  will  he  will  soon 
exhaust  his  powers  as  a  breeder  and  produce  a  puny 
offspring. 

When  his  qualities  as  a  breeder  have  been  satis- 
factorily tested  in  a  sufficient  number  of  cases,  if  his 
pigs  are  too  few  in  number  or  inferior  in  quality,  he 
should  at  once  be  castrated,  and  his  place  supplied 
with  another.  No  boar  that  has  once  been  the 
subject  of  disease  of  any  kind  should  ever  be  used 
as  a  breeder;  they  may  and  doubtless  do  sometimes 
fully  recover  and  produce  healthy  pigs,  but  it  is,  to 
say  the  least,  unsafe  to  risk  it.  The  boar  may  be 
used  as  a  breeder  until  the  sows  of  his  own  get  are 
to  be  used  as  breeders,  Avhen  it  would  not  be  proper 
to  keep  him  any  longer,  as  this  would  be  breeding 
in  and  in,  which  we  have  already  condemned.  It 
must  not  be  inferred  from  the  above  that  the  boar 
has  become  worthless  at  so  early  an  age,  but  it  is 
believed  that  if  he  is  properly  managed  his  genera- 


BREEDING.  51 

tive  powers  remain  good  up  to  three  or  four  years 
of  age;  indeed  some  writers  affirm  that  this  power  is 
vigorous  up  to  from  five  to  eight  years  of  age.  Few 
persons,  however,  would  he  likely  to  keep  a  boar  as 
a  breeder  longer  than  two  or  three  years,  as  by  this 
time  they  become  vicious  or  lazy,  and  of  but  little 
utility  as  breeders. 

The  sow  should  be  kept  separate  from  the  boar 
till  she  is  at  least  ten  months  old.  If  she  has  been 
well  kept,  by  that  time  she  will  be  able  to  bring 
forth  and  suckle  her  pigs.  She  should  have  at  least 
ten  or  twelve  teats,  be  lengthy  in  the  belly,  and 
loose  in  the  flanks.  Such  sows  will  usually  have 
more  and  better  pigs  than  short,  close-made  ones. 
In  addition  to  this  they  are  better  sucklers;  their 
food  goes  to  milk,  whereas  in  the  other  fat  is  pro- 
duced, and  the  offspring  do  not  thrive. 

There  is  perhaps  as  much  difference  in  the  breeding 
power  of  the  sow  as  of  the  boar,  and  when  they  have 
been  tried  twice  and  are  not  found  to  be  prolific,  or 
the  pigs  puny,  they  should  be  rejected  as  unthrifty 
breeders. 

When  several  sows  are  in  heat  at  the  same  time, 
one  or  two  at  the  most  should  be  served  per  day. 
My  experience  teaches  me  that  where  both  sow  and 
boar  are  in  good  condition,  and  the  boar  is  not  allowed 
too  frequent  intercourse  with  the  sows,  that  one  con- 


52  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

nection  is  sufficient  to  produce  full  litters,  and  on  no 
occasion  is  more  than  two  leaps  necessary.  If  they 
are  allowed  to  run  together  at  will,  the  generative 
power  of  the  boar  is  greatly  impaired  by  being  over- 
taxed, and  the  last  sows  served  will  have  fewer  pigs 
than  the  first,  and  these  quite  inferior. 

After  conception  the  sow  needs  but  little  more 
attention  than  common  stock  hogs.  They  should 
have  a  free  run  to  grass,  woods,  range,  etc.,  as  exer- 
cise at  such  time  is  much  better  for  the  animal  than 
confinement. 

In  addition  to  the  food  which  they  are  enabled  to 
pick  up  they  should  have  enough  given  them  to  keep 
them  in  fair  condition,  but  by  no  means  fat.  Care 
should  be  taken  to  prevent  worry  of  any  kind  either 
from  fast  driving  or  being  chased  by  dogs. 

Our  observation  teaches  us  that  sows  will  carry 
their  young  from  one  hundred  and  twelve  to  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  days;  some  writers  affirm  that 
the  time  of  carrying  their  young  varies  from  one 
hundred  and  nine  to  one  hundred  and  forty  days.* 

"The. period  of  gestation  in  the  sow  varies.  The 
most  usual  period  during  which  she  carries  her  young 
is  four  lunar  months,  or  sixteen  weeks,  or  about  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  days.  M.  Tassier,  of  Paris,  a 
gentleman  who  paid  much  attention  to  this  subject, 
*  Beaty  on  Agriculture  and  Domestic  Animals. 


BKEEDING.  63 

in  comiectioii  not  merely  with  swine  but  other 
animalsj  states  that  it  varies  from  one  hundred  and 
nine  to  one  hundred  and  forty-three  days;  he  formed 
his  calculations  from  the  attentive  observation  of 
twenty-five  sows."* 

This  matter  of  the  time  can  be  ascertained  by 
carefully  noting  the  time  at  which  the  sow  was  let 
to  the  boar;  in  this  way  a  very  close  approximation 
to  the  time  when  she  will  farrow  may  be  made. 
About  ten  days  before  the  sow  is  expected  to  bring 
forth  she  should  be  separated  from  the  other  hogs^ 
and  if  convenient  she  should  have  a  run  to  grass, 
and  be  regularly  though  not  highly  fed.  The  food 
should  be  a  nutritious,  though  unirritating  and  cool- 
ing, kind — such  as  milk  from  the  dairy,  bran-mash, 
kitchen-slops,  etc.  These  will  be  quite  sufficient  as 
nourishment,  and  at  the  same  time  keep  the  bowels 
open.  In  addition  to  this  there  should  be  an  abund- 
ance of  pure  water  constantly  and  easily  accessible. 
In  this  way  fever  is  prevented  at  farrowing,  which  is 
a  very  common  thing  at  this  time.  It  would  be  well 
to  see  that  the  sow  is  rid  of  lice  if  these  should  be 
found  upon  her  before  the  pigs  come.  Suitable  beds 
should  be  prepared  for  her  some  days  before  she  is 
expected  to  farrow;  in  this  way  she  will  have  the 
straw,  or  whatever  material  is  given  her,  worked  up 
*  Bcaty  ou  Agriculture  and  Domestic  Animals. 


54  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

and  made  soft,  so  that  the  pigs  will  not  become  en- 
tangled and  get  injured  or  overlayed.  When  no  note 
has  been  made  of  the  time  when  the  sow  was  let  to 
the  boar,  we  are  left  to  mere  guessing  when  the  sow 
will  farrow.  Of  course  this  will  be  uncertain;  there 
is  indeed  no  certain  rules  by  which  to  judge  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy  of  the  exact  time.  The  size 
of  the  belly  can  not  be  relied  upon,  as  many  sows 
are  naturally  big-bellied.  Perhaps  the  best  sign  is 
where  the  udder  becomes  distended  with  milk,  which 
usually  begins  in  from  two  to  four  weeks  before  the 
pigs  are  born.  Careful  observation  in  this  particular 
will  enable  the  owner  to  arrive  at  an  approximation 
of  the  time.  Young  sows  should  have  extra  atten- 
tion at  this  time,  because  of  their  inexperience  in 
taking  care  of  their  young. 

"On  no  account  should  several  sows  be  permitted 
to  farrow  in  the  same  place,  as  they  will  inevitably 
irritate  each  other,  and  devour  theu^  own  or  one 
another's  young."  ^ 

ABORTION. 

"This  accident  is  by  no  means  of  so  common 
occurence  in  the  sow  as  in  many  of  our  other  domes- 
ticated animals.  There  are  various  causes  which  wiU 
tend  to  produce  it — insufficiency  of  food,  eating  too 

*  Youatt  on  the  Hog. 


BREJEDING.  55 

mucli  succulent  vegetable  food,  or  unwliolesome  and 
unsubstantial  diet;  blows  and  falls  will  also  produce 
it."  *  There  is  another  article  which  w^ill  undoubt- 
edly produce  abortion — viz.,  spurred  or  blasted  rye, 
and  a  gorge  of  flaxseed  has  at  least  once  in  the 
observation  of  the  author  produced  it,  and  he  has 
been  informed  that  dog-wood  berries  produce  it.  It 
is  well  to  bear  these  things  in  mind  and  avoid  them. 

Young  sows  that  get  with  pig  prematurely  before 
the  generative  organs  have  fully  developed  often 
abort,  and  in  the  author's  observation  this  accident 
is  much  more  common  in  this  class.  "The  symptoms 
indicative  of  appoaching  abortion  are  similar  to  those 
of  parturition,  only  more  intense.  There  is  generally 
restlessness,  irritation,  and  shiverings,  and  the  cries 
of  the  animal  testify  the  presence  of  severe  labor- 
pains."  * 

^^  Whenever  one  sow  has  aborted,  the  breeder 
should  immediately  look  about  for  the  causes  likely 
to  have  induced  this  accident,  and  endeavor  by  re- 
moving them  to  secure  the  rest  of  the  pregnant  sows 
f][  om  a  similar  fate." 

The  treatment  of  a  sow  after  abortion  is  in  most 

respects  similar  to  that  of  sows  who  have  brought 

forth  their  young  at  maturity.     In  the  class  already 

mentioned    in   which    this    accident    happens    most 

*  Youatt  on  the  Hog. 


56  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

frequently— viz.,  immature  or  imperfectly  developed 
sows — scarcely  any  treatment  will  avail  much.  Of 
course,  if  they  should  be  unahle  to  bring  forth  with 
their  unaided  powers,  assistance  should  be  rendered 
them  by  taking  away  with  the  hand  what  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  womb  to  expel.  Griving  the  animal  as 
a  drink  flaxseed-tea,  in  which  may  be  dissolved  some 
Epsom  salts,  and  removing  everything  that  could  in 
any  manner  irritate  or  disturb  the  animal,  will  be 
about  all  that  need  be  done.  When  there  is  inatten- 
tion to  comfort,  especially  in  winter  or  spring,  no 
shelter,  no  beds,  and  improper  food,  or  it  may  be  no 
food  at  all,  which  is  too  frequently  the  case,  inflam- 
mation of  the  womb  and  lining  membrane  of  the 
belly  or  other  inflammation  may  be  looked  for,  and 
much  fatality  expected. 

sows  DEVOURING  THEIR  YOUNG. 

This  is  by  no  means  of  common  occurrence;  oc- 
casionally a  sow  will  commit  the  unnatural  act.  One 
of  the  principal  causes  assigned  for  it  is  being  irri- 
tated Avhile  giving  birth,  and  subsequently  to  it. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  author  has  never  had  a  sow 
that  destroyed  her  young  that  ever  failed  to  do  so 
afterward.  He  therefore  advises  that  a  sow  thus 
acting  should  not  be  allowed  to  breed  any  more. 


BREEDING.  57 

TREATMENT  OF  THE  SOW  WHILE  SUCKLING. 

Too  many  farmers  overlook  the  importance  of  tliis 
part  of  liog-culture.  The  sows  are  permitted,  or 
rather  compelled^  to  roam  about  in  the  fields  and 
woods,  and  wherever  she  happens  to  be  at  the  time  of 
farrowing,  she  selects  her  place,  makes  her  own  bed 
of  such  materials  as  she  may  be  able  to  gather  up, 
and  her  whereabouts  is  often  unknown  to  her  owner 
till,  driven  by  hunger,  she  "  comes  up "  in  search  of 
food.  It  is  frequently  the  case  that  the  sow  remains 
out  till  her  pigs  are  able  to  follow  her.  Should  she 
go  home  with  too  few  or  inferior  pigs  she  is  con- 
demned for  being  a  bad  breeder.  How  can  it  be 
expected  that  she  should  do  otherwise  than  produce 
stunted  pigs,  and  these  few  in  number? 

But  thus  it  is  with  many  of  our  western  farmers 
and  hog-raisers.  It  is  no  wonder  that  many  .of  these 
find  hog-culture  unprofitable.  The  sow  comes  up 
hungry;  she  has  had  nothing  to  eat  for  a  week,  or 
may  be  more,  except  what  grass  or  roots  she  has 
been  able  to  find  in  her  eager  search  for  food;  but 
finally  she  is  pinched  with  hunger,  and  she  ventm*es 
home  and  receives  a  reward  for  her  faithfulness  in 
bringing  up  eight  or  ten  pigs.  She  is  given  as  much 
corn,  slops,  etc.,  as  she  can  eat,  and  this  she  does 
ravenously;  she  becomes  gorged;  the  stomach  gets 


58  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

sick  and  rejects  the  food  taken,  and  the  whole  ali- 
mentary canal  becomes  deranged;  the  animal  not 
only  vomits,  but  frequently  diarrhea  sets  in,  and  the 
poor  animal  is  so  disgusted  and  diseased  that  her 
appetite  fails,  and  for  weeks  she  is  weak,  debilitated, 
gives  but  httle  milk,  and  the  pigs  dwindle,  become 
sickly,  some  of  them  die,  and  the  rest  worthless. 
The  poor  sow  is  pronounced  worthless  as  a  breeder. 
With  the  above  treatment  the  finest  breeders  could 
do  no  better;  the  fault  lies  at  the  door  of  the  owner. 
Let  the  sows  be  cared  for  properly  before  they  far- 
row, and  but  little  trouble  of  the  kind  alluded  to 
will  be  experienced.  They  should  not  be  disturbed 
or  driven  out  of  their  beds  till  they  leave  it  of  their 
own  accord;  their  food  should  be  of  the  kind  least 
liable  to  produce  fever,  such  as  slops,  bran-mash, 
milk,  etc.,  gradually  increasing  the  quantity  and 
quality  from  day  to  day,  till  finally,  when  the  pigs 
are  ten  to  fifteen  days  old,  the  sow  may  be  given  as 
much  as  she  will  eat,  as  one  of  the  objects  is  to  pro- 
duce milk  so  that  the  pigs  may  have  plenty;  those 
articles  of  food  calculated  to  make  milk  ought  to  be 
given.  Care  should  be  taken  to  keep  the  beds  dry 
and  at  the  same  time  clear  of  dust.  If  the  weather 
be  cold,  their  sties  or  sheds,  or  wherever  the  beds 
have  been  made,  should  be  so  situated  as  to  protect 
them  from  the   cold  winds  and  snow  or  rain,  and 


BREEDING.  59 

there  should  be  no  want  of  pure  water  and  salt.    All 
these  little  matters  are  important. 

TREATMENT  OF  PIGS  WHILE  SUCKLING. 

All  that  is  necessary  to  be  done  for  the  first  ten 
or  twelve  days  is  to  see  that  the  sow  cares  for  them, 
and  that  their  beds  are  kept  clean  and  dry,  though, 
as  before  said,  not  dusty.  If  through  neglect  the 
sow  was  lousy  before  her  confinement,  the  pigs  will 
also  become  lousy  in  a  very  short  time.  At  this  age 
the  pigs  are  very  tender,  and  these  vermin  not  only 
become  very  annoying,  but  actually  impede  then- 
growth  and  impair  their  health,  and  even  occasionally 
produce  the  death  of  the  little  ones.  Strict  attention 
should  be  given  to  this  matter;  the  lice  should  be 
destroyed  by  as  mild  means  as  will  accomphsh  this 
object.  If  the  sow  should  be  unable  to  support  the 
pigs  for  the  first  week  or  two,  which  sometimes  is  the 
case,  they  should  be  taught  to  drink  warm  milk,  and 
this  will  not  be  a  very  difficult  matter  if  tenderness 
and  care  be  observed. 

In  ten  to  fifteen  days  the  pigs  begin  to  learn  how 
to  eat,  and  should  have  a  separate  department,  con- 
venient for  them  to  pass  in  and  out  at  pleasure,  and 
troughs  should  be  provided  to  suit  them.  Milk  is  cer- 
tainly best  for  them  at  this  tender  age,  but  where 
there  are  very  many  pigs  it  may  not  be  possible  to 


60  TEEATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

supply  them  with  this  article.  When  this  can  not  be 
done,  cracked  corn  is  a  very  good  substitute;  this 
should  be  boiled  and  made  into  a  slop,  or  even 
thrown  into  the  trough  dry.  They  will  soon  learn  to 
eat  it,  and  this  should  be  kept  constantly  on  hand  for 
them.  The  pigs  should  be  prevented  from  wallowing 
in  dusty  places;  they  should  be  allowed  free  access 
to  water,  and  have  nice  clean,  dry  beds.  If  these 
directions  are  carefully  complied  with,  there  is  but 
little  danger  of  disease  of  any  kind  among  them. 
Having  a  good  start,  they  grow  up  rapidly. 

It  has  been  the  writer's  practice  to  so  arrange  it 
that  the  first  litter  shall  come  early  in  the  spring; 
this  litter  should  be  weaned  at  about  eight  weeks  old. 
A  few  days  after  the  pigs  are  weaned  the  food  of  the 
sow  should  be  reduced  somewhat,  so  that  the  flow 
of  milk  will  be  decreased.  If,  as  frequently  hap- 
pens, that  the  udder  becomes  full  and  feverish,  and 
the  sow  seems  to  be  in  pain  from  it,  the  pigs  may 
be  allowed  to  suck  once  a  day  for  two  or  three  days. 

In  from  two  to  five  days  the  sow  usually  comes  in 
heat.  After  she  has  been  bred,  she  may  be  put  with 
the  stock  hogs,  and  will  require  but  httle  if  any  extra 
attention  or  care  till  the  time  for  her  to  farrow  agaiQ 
arrives. 

The  second  Utter  will  come  late  in  the  summer  or 
early  in  the  fall;  this  litter  may  be  allowed  to  run 


BREEDING.  61 

with  her  till  she  weans  them  herself,  as  we  do  not 
wish  to  breed  her  again  till  the  middle  or  latter 
part  of  November.  The  writer  thiaks  it  poor  econ- 
omy to  allow  a  sow  to  have  more  than  two  litters  a 
year;  oftener  than  this  well  be  found  to  be  too  great 
a  drain  upon  her  powers;  besides  one  htter  will  come 
in  the  winter,  when  it  will  cost  as  much  to  keep  them 
as  they  will  be  worth. 

For  about  three  weeks  after  the  pigs  are  weaned 
they  should  be  fed  with  good  nutritious  food  at  least 
three  times  a  day ;  at  the  same  time  they  should  have 
a  run  to  grass.  After  this  the  time  of  feeding  may 
be  reduced  to  twice  a  day,  morning  and  evening. 


62  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


CHAPTER    V. 

PROTECTION— PLAN   OF  HOG-HOUSE. 

The  importance  of  proper  protection  of  the  hog  during  the  winter  and 
early  spring — Ground  plan  of  a  cheap  and  convenient  house  for  the 
purpose,  v/ith  full  description  —  Advantages  at  the  farrowing  and 
breeding  seasons — Directions  in  regard  to  castration  and  speying. 

So  little  attention  has  hitherto  been  given  to  proper 
protection  to  the  hog,  and  the  importance  of  it  is  so 
apparent,  that  the  author  feels  that  his  work  would  be 
very  incomplete  without  some  directions  in  regard  to 
it.  Nothing  that  can  be  done  for  the  hog  is  of  more 
importance  than  affording  him  adequate  protection 
and  shelter.  It  is  also  important  that  the  houses, 
sties,  etc.,  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  give  at  the 
same  time  convenience,  comfort,  and  proper  ventila- 
tion. The  author  has  given  much  attention  to  this 
matter,  and  the  plan  he  proposes  to  give  has  given 
entire  satisfaction  to  himself  and  to  those  who  have 
adopted  it.  The  accompanying  cut  will  fairly  illus- 
trate his  idea  of  a  house,  suitable  in  all  respects  for 
convenience,  comfort,  and  ventilation;  especial  atten- 
tion is  asked  for  it. 


PROTECTION ^PLAN  OF  HOG-HOUSE. 


63 


The  following  cut  represents  the  ground  plan  of  a 
hog-house.     A  house   built  on  this   plan   and   size 


PLAN  OF   HOG-HOUSB. 


will  be  large  enough  to  accommodate  from  thirty  to 
eighty  hogs,  depending  of  course  upon  the  size  of 
the  hogs.  The  sills  are  twenty-four  by  thirty-two 
feet;  this  gives  a  corn  crib  eight  by  twenty-four  feet, 
and  four  sties  eight  by  eight  feet,  which  is  large 
enough  to  accommodate  a  sow  and  pigs.  The  one 
eight  by  sixteen  feet  will  give  sufficient  room  to  bed 
a  number  of  common  stock  hogs.  The  feed-room, 
eight  by  twenty-four  feet,  is  sufficiently  large  for  all 


64  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

practical  purposes;  and  the  doors  are  so  arranged 
that  the  hogs  in  either  department  may  be  let  into 
the  feed-room,  or  put  outside  or  let  in  as  may  be 
desired,  without  disturbing  those  in  any  other  de- 
partment. 

This  building  is  framed,  about  seven  feet  high, 
with  good  eaves — i.  e.,  projecting  over  well.  The 
floors  should  be  composed  of  good  heavy  plank;  that 
of  the  feed-room  and  crib  should  be  level;  that  of 
the  sties  somewhat  slanting  outward.  A  sufficient 
number  of  joists  should  be  put  overhead  to  lay 
boards  upon  for  the  purpose  of  putting  away  straw 
for  bedding.  The  door  should  be  about  twenty-four 
inches  wide,  and  should  work  up  and  down  in  grooves 
between  the  studding ;  a  board  about  six  inches  wide 
should  be  nailed  across  the  studding  about  three  feet 
above  the  bottom  of  the  door-way;  this  cross-piece 
should  have  holes  bored  through  it  to  correspond 
to  similar  holes  in  the  door,  so  that  the  door  may 
be  raised  to  any  height  desired,  and  held  in  its  place 
by  wooden  pins  put  through  the  holes.  In  this 
way,  if  it  be  desired  to  let  the  pigs  and  small  hogs 
out  and  keep  the  larger  ones  in,  or  vice  versa,  the 
door  may  be  elevated  or  let  down,  and  be  held  in 
place  by  the  pins.  A  door  is  to  be  hung  on  hinges 
at  the  end  of  the  feed-room  as  a  passway;  this  door 
should   be  large  enough  to  allow  the  largest  sized 


PROTECTION PIAN  OF  HOG-HOUSE.  65 

hog  to  pass  through,  and  arranged  so  that  it  may  be 
securely  closed  when  desired. 

The  outside  of  this  building  should  be  planked 
up  high  enough  to  protect  the  herd  from  the  win  Is 
and  snow,  leaving  an  open. space  at  the  top  to  insure 
ample  ventilation.  The  inside  partitions  should  be 
just  high  enough  to  keep  the  hogs  from  chmbing 
over  them;  in  this  way  it  will  be  found  much  easier 
to  clean  the  sties,  and  remove  the  old  beds,  and 
supply  new  material.  About  three  feet  six  inches 
will  be  high  enough  for  these  partitions.  Every  part 
of  the  building  should  be  composed  of  heavy,  strong 
material,  and  put  together  so  strongly  as  to  resist 
any  effort  of  the  hogs  to  break  it  down. 

The  object  of  this  house  is  not  for  constant  con- 
finement of  the  hogs,  but  for  the  comfort  and  accom- 
modation of  the  common  stock  hogs.  When  it  is 
the  purpose  to  confine  the  hogs  in  pens  to  fatten 
them,  the  sties  should  be  somewhat  difi^erently  ar- 
ranged, and  the  sties  should  in  this  case  be  larger. 

The  house  just  described  is  intended  as  a  place 

of  common  resort  for  the  herd,  and  also  to  confine 

the  sows  about  the  time  of  farrowing,  and  to  protect 

them  from  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather  during 

the  first  week  or  two  after  farrowing,  and  so  that 

they  may  be  given  proper  food.     This  house  also 

furnishes  the  herd  a  place  to  sleep,  and  thus  keeps 

6 


66  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

tliem  from  sleeping  and  wallowing  in  dusty  beds  and 
manure  heaps,  w^here  they  contract  diseases  of  the 
skin  or  of  the  lungs.  Here  the  animal  has  a  bed  of 
clean,  dry  straw,  free  from  dust,  and  protected  from 
the  cold,  the  wind,  and  the  ram;  here  he  can  rest 
and  enjoy  quiet  slumber  at  night,  caring  little  be- 
cause feeling  nothing  of  the  cold  without.  He  rises 
from  his  bed  in  the  morning  refreshed,  and  in  no  way 
injured  by  his  companion  climbing  over  him  and  dis- 
turbing his  rest;  he  eats  his  simple  meal  and  is  satis- 
fied. How  can  he  fail  to  thrive?  Try  it  and  see 
if  he  does  not. 

With  a  house  thus  constructed  pigs  can  be  saved 
Fit  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  this  is  one  of  the 
objects  to  be  accomplished  by  this  arrangement.  If 
the  pigs  ptre  disposed  to  wallow  in  the  dust,  they 
may  be  confined  in  the  sty,  and  the  sow  allowed  to 
run  out,  and  be  let  in  as  often  as  necessary  to 
suckle  them.  We  insist  upon  it,  that  if  they  are 
allowed  to  wallow  in  dusty  beds,  they  will  invariably 
become  diseased.  Care  should  be  taken  when  thus 
confined  to  supply  them  with  abundance  of  pure 
water.  Of  course,  when  the  pigs  are  farrowed  at  a 
time  when  grass  is  abundant,  they  should  be  allowed 
to  run  in  the  pasture  along  with  the  sow. 

Another  advantage  afforded  by  this  house  is  that 
during  the  breeding  season  the  boar  ma.y  be  kept  in 


PROTECTION PLAN  OF  HOG-HOUSE.  67 

one  of  these  apartments  and  let  to  the  sows  at  will. 
With  this  arrangement  the  hog  is  made  much  more 
gentle  and  manageable,  and  unquestionably  more 
profitable,  and  the  raiser  derives  more  pleasure  in 
the  business  of  hog-cultm'e. 


CASTRATING  AND  SPAYING. 

At  what  age  of  the  world  the  art  of  castration  was 
first  practiced  upon  domesticated  animals  we  have  no 
means  of  determining.  It  was  doubtless  practiced 
at  a  very  early  day.  The  Spaniards,  the  Gauls,  and 
Itahans  understood  hog-raising,  and  the  probability 
is  that  they  practiced  this  art. 

The  objects  to  be  attained  are:  1.  To  destroy  the 
generative  powers.  2.  To  diminish  their  courage, 
and  thus  make  them  docile  and  easily  managed. 
3.  To  increase  the  tendency  to  grow  fat,  and  cause 
them  to  arrive  at  early  maturity. 

The  operation  consists  in  removing  the  testicles 
of  the  male  and  the  ovaries  of  the  female.  The 
art  of  performing  the  operation  is  so  generally 
known  and  practiced  by  every  hog-raiser,  that  it 
is  not  necessary  to  go  into  any  lengthy  description 
of  it,  or  to  give  any  particular  mode  of  performing 
it.  Yet  a  few  remarks  in  regard  to  the  time  when 
castration  ought  to  be  performed,  and  the  treatment 


68  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

of  the  animal  previous  to  and  after  the  operation, 
may  be  found  useful. 

This  operation  should  be  performed  in  the  spring 
as  soon  as  the  weather  gets  warm  enough,  and  before 
the  flies  become  troublesome,  and  in  the  fall  before 
cold  weather  sets  in;  it  may,  however,  be  done  in 
the  summer  if  the  castrated  animals  can  have  a  run 
to  fresh  running  water,  in  which  to  bathe  and  protect 
themselves  from  the  flies;  but  on  no  account  should 
it  be  performed  in  the  winter  or  the  cold  changeable 
weather  of  early  spring.  The  operation  may  be  per- 
formed on  either  male  or  female  at  any  age,  though 
of  course  the  risk  to  life  is  greater  in  old  than  in 
young  animals. 

It  is  best  to  castrate  the  male  at  from  two  to  six 
weeks  old,  as  the  wound  at  this  age  is  smaller,  and 
the  heahng  process  is  more  rapid  in  young  than  in  old 
animals;  they  are  also  much  more  easily  handled. 

B]paying  the  female  should  be  performed  at  from 
two  to  four  months  old,  as  the  ovaries  are  not  devel- 
oped sufficiently  previous  to  this  time.  They  should 
be  in  good  health  at  the  time,  and  not  fat,  only  in 
fair  condition.  They  should  be  put  in  clean,  dry 
pens,  and  kept  there  for  twenty-four  hours  previous 
to  the  operation,  and  should  be  allowed  no  food 
whatever,  but  should  have  plenty  of  water.  The 
object  of   this  is  to  secure  an  empty  state  of  the 


PROTECTION PLAN  OF  HOG-HOUSE.  69 

bowels,  wMcli  is  important,  and  to  be  in  condition  to 
obviate  fever  and  inflammation.  After  the  operation 
they  should  be  allowed  a  sufficiency*  of  good,  unirri- 
tating  food,  and  be  made,  if  they  do  not  incline,  to 
take  exercise;  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  lie 
around  the  sty,  except  enough  simply  to  give  suffi- 
cient rest.  The  food  should  not  only  be  unirritating 
but  rather  scant  for  the  first  few  days.  If  they  are 
not  allowed  full  feed,  they  will  be  apt  to  take  suffi- 
cient exercise  in  making  search  for  food.  When, 
however,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  they  refuse  to 
exercise,  they  should  be  driven  once  or  twice  a  day 
a  few  hundred  yards.  The  author's  experience  is 
that  they  do  infinitely  better  when  they  are  made 
to  move  about  than  when  allowed  to  lie  in  their  beds 
and  wait  for  their  food  to  be  given  them.  If  they 
should  get  stiff  and  very  sore,  take  a  quiU  and  push 
it  through  the  cut,  between  the  stitches,  so  as  to  pro- 
mote the  flow  of  bruised  blood  and  water  that  some- 
times accumulates.  This  wiU  give  much  rehef. 
This  operation  may  be  repeated  if  found  necessary. 


70  ,  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES  OF  THE  HOG. 

Tlie  head — The  nt)se — Nerves  of  the  special  senses — The  teeth;  their 
names  and  number ;  their  importance  and  function — Lining  of  the 
mouth — The  brain,  larger  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  animal 
than  that  of  the  ox  or  sheep — Apoplexy,  its  cause;  its  treatment — ■ 
Inflammation  of  the  brain — Epilepsy — Lockjaw,  causes  of — Diseases 
of  the  nose;  how  produced — The  larynx,  diseases  of — The  pharynx- 
Strangles  and  quinsy,  treatment  of — The  chest — The  lungs,  diseases 
of — Bronchial  tubes ;  their  diseases. 

It  is  important^  before  treating  of  the  diseases  of 
the  hog,  that  the  reader  should  have  some  knowledge 
of  the  structure  and  relations  of  the  most  important 
parts  and  organs  of  the  body.  Few  persons,  even 
those  who  have  given  much  attention  to  the  rearing 
of  swine,  have  taken  the  trouble  to  inform  themselves 
in  regard  to  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  this  ex- 
ceedingly valuable  animal. 

It  is  impossible  to  treat  the  diseases  of  this  animal 
intelligently  and  successfully  without  a  knowledge 
of  his  anatomy,  physiology,  and  habits.  It  is  not, 
however,  the  intention  of  the  author  to  enter  into  a 
lengthy  and  minute  description  of  every  part  of  the 
body,  but  simply  those  parts  most  liable  to  disease. 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY^  AND  DISEASES. 


71 


For  a  thorough,  scientific  description,  the  author  re- 
fers to  the  systematic  treatises  of  Youatt,  Martin,  and 
others,  on  the  hog,  and  from  whom,  indeed,  he  has 
not  hesitated  to  quote,  and  particularly  from  Youatt, 
to  whose  patient  research  the  world  is  indebted  for 
the  best  systematic  treatise  on  the  hog  in  the  English 
language.  The  following  cut  is  copied  from  the  excel- 
lent book  of  Youatt,  and  gives  a  very  accurate  idea 
of  the  skeleton  of  the  hog.  It  is  hoped  that  this  cut 
will  prove  profitable  and  interesting  to  the  reader. 


1,  the  lower  jaw;  2,  the  teeth;  3,  the  nasal  bones,  or  bones  of  the 
nose;  4,  the  upper  jaw;  5,  the  frontal  bone;  6,  the  orbit,  or  socket  of 
the  eye;  7,  the  occipital  bone,  or  bone  at  the  top  and  back  of  the  head; 
8,  the  first  bones  of  the  spine;  9,  the  spinal  bones  of  the  neck;  10,  the 
spinal  bones  of  the  back;  11,  the  spinal  bones  of  the  loins;  12,  the 
bones  of  the  tail ;  13,  14,  the  true  and  false  ribs ;  15,  the  shoulder-blade ; 
16,  the  round  shoulder  bone;  17,  the  breast  bone;  18,  the  elbow;  19,  the 
bone  of  the  fore-arm;  29,  the  navicular  bone;  21,  the  first  and  second 
bones  of  the  foot;  22,  the  bones  of  the  hoof;  23,  the  haunch  bones;  24, 
the  thigh  bone;  25,  the  stifle  bone;  26,  the  upper  bone  of  the  leg;  27, 
the  hock  bones;  28,  the  navicular  bone;  29,  the  first  bones  of  the  foot; 
30,  the  second  bones  of  the  foot. 


72  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOa. 

THE    HEAD. 

The  head  presents  several  points  of  interest: 
First,  it  contains  the  brain,  from  which  proceed  the 
nerves  which  supply  the  organs  of  special  sense,  viz., 
seeing,  hearing,  smelling,  tasting,  etc.;  second,  the 
cavity  of  the  nose,  or  nasal  cavity ;  third,  the  teeth, 
and  the  spade-bone  or  snout-bone.  The  general  con- 
tour of  the  head  is  that  of  an  irregular,  flattened 
cone,  terminated  below  by  the  snout,  which,  as  we 
shall  see,  serves  an  important  purpose. 

The  hog  differs  from  other  animals  in  the  structure 
of  the  nose  in  that  he  has  an  extra  bone,  the  vomer. 
It  is  short,  trifical,  and  placed  dkectly  before  the 
nasal-hone,  with  which  and  the  edges  of  the  anterior 
maxillary  it  is  connected  by  strong  ligaments,  carti- 
lages, and  muscles.  This  bone  has  been  termed  the 
spade-bone,  the  snout-bone,  and  by  some  writers  the 
vomer,  from  its  resemblance  to  a  plowshare.  By  it 
and  its  cartilaginous  attachments  is  the  snout  ren- 
dered strong,  as  well  as  flexible,  and  far  more  effi- 
cient than  it  could  otherwise  be;  and  the  hog  often 
contrives  to  give  both  farmers  and  gardeners  very 
unpleasant  proofs  of  its  efficiency  by  plowing  up 
deep  furrows  in  newly-sown  fields,  and  grubbing  up 
the  soil  in  all  directions,  in  search  of  his  living  and 
dead    food.      As   roots   and    fruits    buried    in    the 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES.  73 

earth  form  the  natural  food  of  the  hog,  the  parts 
above  described  serve  him  a  very  useful  purpose,  as 
it  is  perfectly  adapted  for  turning  up  the  soil.  There 
is  a  large  plexus  of  nerves  proceeding  down  each  side 
of  the  nose,  and  ramifying  over  the  nostril,  and  in 
these  doubtless  reside  that  peculiar  power  which  en- 
ables the  hog  to  detect  his  food,  though  buried  some 
inches  below  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  olfac- 
tory nerve  too  is  large,  and  occupies  a  middle  rank 
betAveen  that  of  the  herhivoroiis  and  carnivorous  ani- 
mals. It  is  comparatively  larger  than  that  of  the 
ox;  indeed,  few  animals,  with  the  exception  of  the 
dog,  are  gifted  with  a  more  acute  sense  of  smell  than 
the  hog.  To  the  acute  sense  of  smell  of  the  hog  are 
eincures  indebted  for  the  truffles  which  form  such  a 
delicious  sauce,  for  they  are  the  actual  finders.  A 
pig  is  turned  into  a  field,  and  suffered  to  pursue  his 
own  course,  and  watched.  He  stops,  and  begins  to 
grub  up  the  earth ;  the  man  hurries  up,  drives  him 
away,  and  secures  the  truffle,  which  is  invariably 
growing  under  that  spot,  and  the  poor  pig  goes  off  to 
sniff  out  another  and  another,  only  now  and  then 
being  allowed,  by  way  of  encouragement,  to  reap  the 
fruit  of  his  research.* 

The  cavities  of  the  nose  are  separated  by  a  parti- 
tion, and  lined  by  a  mucous  membrane.     This  mcm- 

*  Youatt. 

7 


74  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

brane  frequently  becomes  diseased — usually  inflam- 
mation. This  may  be  known  by  being  changed  from 
its  natural  healthy  color,  a  delicate  pink,  to  intense 
redness.  There  is  generally  an  abundant  secretion 
of  mucus,  usually  a  white,  glairy,  tough  kind,  or 
else  the  membrane,  instead  of  secreting  its  normal 
quantity  of  mucus,  becomes  dry  and  cracked  or  fis- 
sured, and  bleeds  at  the  slightest  provocation.  Now 
the  function  of  this  membrane  is  to  secrete  mucus, 
which  keeps  the  parts  moist,  and  serves  to  protect 
the  deep-seated  parts  from  any  irritating  matter  that 
may  be  lodged  upon  it. 

The  Teeth. — "  The  hog  has  fourteen  molar  teeth 
(grinders)  in  each  jaw,  ^i^  incisors  (cutters),  and  two 
canines  (tearers).  These  latter  are  curved  upward, 
and  commonly  denominated  tushes."  (Youatt.)  Thus 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  hog,  from  the  character  of 
his  teeth,  is  enabled  to  eat  a  great  variety  of  food. 
He  has  cutters,  tearers,  and  grinders.  Thus  he  eats 
grass,  grain,  roots,  fruits,  and  flesh.  He  is  therefore 
what  is  called  an  omnivorous  (all-eating)  animal,  and 
in  this  respect,  as  in  some  others,  resembles  man 
more  than  any  other  animal.  The  teeth  are  intended 
to  crush  the  food,  and  thus  prepare  it  to  be  mixed 
with  the  saliva  of  the  mouth,  to  form  it  into  a  pulpy 
mass  preparatory  to  its  passage  into  the  stomach, 
where  it  is  digested,  and  passes  on  through  the  intes- 


ANATOIVIY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES.  75 

tinal  canal,  to  be  absorbed  and  converted  into  blood. 
But  more  of  this  anon. 

THE    BRAIN. 

"This  important  organ  is  not  so  large  as  from  an 
external  view  of  the  cranium  (skull)  we  should  be 
led  to  suppose.  It  is,  however,  considerably  larger 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  animal  than  that  of 
the  ox  or  sheep;  being  about  one  five-hundredth 
part  of  the  weight  of  the  animal,  while  that  of  the 
ox  is  only  one  eight-hundredth  part,  and  that  of  the 
sheep  one  seven-hundred-and-fiftieth  part."   (Youatt) 

The  hog  is  subject  to  apoplexy,  and  this  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at,  "as  this  is  a  disease,"  says  Youatt, 
"which  is  chiefly  induced  })j  plethora,  laziness,  want 
of  exercise,  high  feeding,  and  such  like  causes."  It 
is  a  common  habit  to  feed  fatting  hogs  all  they  will 
eat  when  first  put  in  inclosures,  and  thus  too  rapid 
production  of  blood  and  fat  is  the  result,  and  the 
animal  drops  down  from  apoplexy  and  dies. 

Inflammation  of  the  brain  and  spinal  cord,  epilepsi/, 
and  various  affections  of  the  nervous  system,  such 
as  lockjaw,  rabies,  etc.,  are  not  uncommon.  Since 
the  hog  is  so  frequently  exposed  to  the  inclemencies 
of  the  Aveather  in  winter,  and  often  illy  provided 
with  pure  water  in  the  heat  of  summer,  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  he  should  be  afflicted  with  these 


76  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

terrible  forms  of  disease ;  and  it  is  not  at  all  won- 
derful that  so  few  should  recover,  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  so  little  is  actually  known  by  the 
multitude  of  those  who  raise  them  of  the  nature 
and  habits  of  this  truly  valuable  animal. 

While  upon  the  anatomy  and  fhysiology  of  the 
head,  it  would  be  as  well  to  consider  some  of  the 
most  important  affections  of  the  mucous  memhrane 
of  the  nose  and  throat.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  the  head  of  the  hog  is  so  arranged  that  the 
nose  is  always  pendant,  and  that  the  animal  is  con- 
stantly snuffing  and  turning  up  the  ground,  and 
poking  his  nose  into  everything  that  comes  in  his 
way,  and  thus  brought  in  contact  with  all  sorts 
of  irritating  matter  that  it  may  chance  to  meet  with, 
it  can  be  readily  understood  how  dust,  sand,  and 
other  matters,  lodging  upon  the  delicate  membrane 
of  the  nose  and  throat,  may  cause  disease,  such  as 
inflammation,  either  from  simple  irritation  or  from 
poisonous  matters.  This  inflammation  sometimes 
results  in  ulceration,  or  becoming  extended  may 
reach  even  into  the  throat. 

NASAL    CATARRH. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  is  next  called  to 
nasal  catarrh,  or  snuffles  as  it  is  commonly  called. 
The  author  already  many  times  referred  to  (Youatt) 


ANATOMY;  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES.  77 

has  given  such  an  accurate  description  of  the  dis- 
ease in  question,  that  the  author  begs  again  to  quote 
his  words. 

Youatt  says :  "  The  disease  is  characterized  by 
defluxions  (discharges)  from  the  nose  in  the  first 
place,  and  its  advance  is  so  gradual  as  to  be  almost 
imperceptible.  But  it  gains  ground  daily,  attacks 
the  respiratory  passages,  cough  and  sneezing  come 
on,  there  is  evident  difficulty  of  swallowing,  and  the 
respiration  is  impeded  by  the  mucus  formed.  After 
some  time  the  membrane  of  the  nose  becomes  thick- 
ened, the  nostril  swells  and  becomes  deformed,  and 
the  snout  drawn  on  one  side.  Blood  is  often  dis- 
charged from  the  nostril,  and  when  this  has  been  the 
case  all  the  symptoms  are  abated  and  the  animal 
seems  relieved  for  awhile.  But  it  too  frequently 
happens  that. this  discharge  or  hemorrhage  returns 
again  and  again,  each  time  in  increasing  quantities, 
until  the  strength  of  the  animal  becomes  so  under- 
mined that,  notwithstanding  the  utmost  care  and  the 
most  nourishing  diet,  he  dies  of  exhaustion,  or  per- 
haps, as  it  may  be  more  properly  termed,  consump- 
tion. This  disease,  which  so  strongly  resembles 
glanders  and  distemper,  is,  like  them,  hereditarij^  and 
may  be  communicated  from  either  the  male  or  female 
parent.  It  also  results  from  exposure  to  damp  or 
cold." 


78  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

Tlie  attention  of  the  reader  is  earnestly  called  to 
the  last  observation  of  Youatt — viz.,  that  the  disease 
in  question  may  be  communicated  either  from  the 
male  or  female  parent;  hence  it  follows  that  much 
care  should  be  taken  in  the  selection  of  breeders.  As 
it  is  a  law  of  the  Creator  that  "like  shall  beget  like," 
so  it  must  be  in  regard  to  this  matter.  Pigs  born  of 
a  diseased  parent  can  rarely  ever  be  perfectly  sound; 
hence  it  becomes  exceedingly  important  that  in  order 
to  have  sound,  healthy,  thrifty  hogs,  the  utmost  care 
should  he  observed  in  selecting  from  the  herd  only 
those  ^  both  male  and  female^  that  are  known  to  he  pe?^- 
fectly  sound  as  breeders. 

Few  persons  are  perhaps  prepared  for  the  above 
statement.  The  author  has  for  a  long  time  been  con- 
vinced of  its  truth,  and  he  has  frequently  urged  upon 
his  neighbors  the  importance  of  selecting  from  thek 
herds  the  healthiest  and  best  for  breeders,  and  in 
this  way  secure  healthy,  robust  pigs.  In  another 
place  he  proposes  to  urge  this  matter  as  one  of  vital 
importance. 

THE     LARYNX. 

The  larynx  is  the  instrument  of  voice.  "It  con- 
sists of  cartilages  united  to  one  another  by  ligamen- 
tous substances,  by  distinct  articulations^  and  by  a 
seemingly   complicated   but  really  simple  muscular 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOaY,  AND    DISEASES.  79 

apparatus.  In  form  it  is  an  irregular  oblong  tube, 
exceedingly  flexible,  and  capable  of  adapting  itself 
to  all  the  natural  or  morbid  changes  of  the  resinratory 
process,  and  to  the  production  of  all  the  various  in- 
tonations of  sound  or  voice  bj  which  the  animal 
expresses  his  emotions.  It  is  placed  at  the  top  of  the 
windpipe,  guards  the  exit  from  the  lungs,  and  pre- 
vents the  passage  of  food  into  the  respi7^atory  canal." 
The  author  does  not  believe  it  to  be  necessary  to  go 
into  a  very  minute  description  of  this  organ.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  further,  that  this  tube,  Hke  the  nose,  is 
lined  by  a  mucous  memhrane,  and  is  liable  to  become 
diseased.  It  is  the  seat  of  serious  inflammation, 
and,  as  in  the  human  being,  very  difficult  to  cure. 
Inflammation  here  is  known  by  a  peculiar  change 
of  the  voice,  resembling  croup,  and  by  difficulty  in 
swallowing,  and  this  is  more  particularly  noticed 
when  the  animal  attempts  to  swallow  fluids  -,  he 
will  swallow  solids  with  apparent  ease,  but  he 
strangles  and  gives  signs  of  suffering  when  he  at- 
tempts to  take  fluids  of  any  kind.  The  cough  is 
spasmodic,  and  his  voice  is  hoarse,  and,  as  before 
stated,  resembles  croup  in  the  human  subject.  Unless 
speedily  relieved,  the  animal  dies  in  from  five  to  ten 
days,  or  else  it  runs  into  the  chronic  stage,  and  the 
animal  becomes  poor,  has  a  distressing  cough,  and 
finally  dies  from  exhaustion.     Under  very  favorable 


80  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

circumstances  a  cure  may  be  effected,  but  it  is  tiie 
exception^  not  the  rule.  The  means  best  adapted  to 
reheve  the  disease  is  careful  nursing,  protection  from 
cold  and  dampness,  a  purgative  of  Epsom  salts  and 
an  ounce  of  saltpeter,  dissolved  in  a  gallon  of  flax- 
seed-tea,  to  be  taken  as  freely  as  the  animal  can  be 
induced  to  drink  it;  and  he  should  be  allowed  no 
other  drink  until  he  does  drink  of  this  freely.  If  the 
animal  is  fat,  the  loss  of  blood  might  do  good.  The 
diet  should  consist  of  hot  milk,  bran-mash,  etc. 
Few  farmers,  however,  will  be  careful  enough  to 
detect  the  presence  of  the  disease  in  time  to  accom- 
plish much  good  by  any  plan  of  treatment. 

THE     PHARYNX. 

While  the  organs  of  the  throat  are  under  consid- 
eration, it  might  be  as  well  to  consider  the  i^liarynx^ 
as  it  is  situated  in  such  close  proximity  to  tlie^  other 
structures  of  which  we  have  been  speaking.  The 
"pharynx  is  a  memhranous,  muscular,  funnel-shaped 
bag,  extending  from  the  root  of  the  tongue  to  the 
larynx  and  oesoioliagus,  wide  in  front,  and  becoming 
gradually  narrower  until  it  terminates  in  the  oesoph- 
agus. Its  office  is  to  convey  the  food  from  the  mouth 
to  the  upper  part  of  the  gullet,  and  this  it  performs 
by  means  of  its  hning  muscles.  The  oesophagus  is 
the  long  tube   continued  from  the  pharynx   to    the 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES.  81 

stomach,  and  is  the  canal  through  which  the  food 
passes,  after  lea^dng  the  mouth  and  jpharynx^  into  the 
stomach.  A  more  complete  description  of  this  tube 
and  its  functions  will  be  given  when  we  come  to 
speak  of  the  organs  of  digestion. 

STRANGLES  OR  QUINSY. 

We  now  come  to  consider  a  disease  of  frequent 
occurrence,  rapid  in  its  progress,  and  very  fatal  in 
its  termination — viz.,  strangles  or  quinsy.  These 
diseases  (of  the  throat)  are  of  very  frequent  occur- 
rence, and  as  they  are  rapid  in  their  progress  gen- 
erally exceedingly  fatal.  They  chiefly  attack  fatten- 
ing hogs.  The  glands  under  the  throat  begin  to 
swell,  and  thus  affect  not  only  the  respiratory  organs^, 
but  the  act  of  swallowing;  impeded  respiration, 
hoarseness,  and  debility  then  supervene;  the  pulse 
becomes  quick  and  unequal;  the  head  to  a  certain 
extent  palsied ;  the  neck  tumefies  and  rapidly  goes  on 
to  gangrene;  the  tongue  hangs  from  the  mouth  and 
is  covered  with  slaver;  and  the  animal  gradually 
sinks.  The  glands  sometimes  ulcerate,  and  occa- 
sionally abscesses  are  formed,  and  these  bursting 
give  relief. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  disease  very  simple 
treatment  is  required,  such  as  cooling  medicines, 
attention   to  diet,  and   proper  care  and    protection. 


82  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

But  when  the  swelling,  impeded  respiration^  and  dif- 
ficult swallowing  has  come  on,  recourse  must  be  had 
to  more  energetic  treatment.  "  Bleeding  and  purga- 
tives are  first  indicated.  Setons  and  punctures  of 
the  swelled  glands  have  also  been  recomm.ended, 
and  in  extreme  cases  there  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  not  have  recourse  to  blisters  and  external 
stimulants  as  counter-irritanis .  A  diseased  animal 
should  never  be  allowed  to  remain  among  healthy 
ones,  as  the  malady  is  so  infectious  that  it  may 
almost  be  regarded  as  an  epizootic T  In  addition  to 
the  above,  the  author  would  strongly  urge  the  free 
use  of  the  nitrate  of  potash  (saltpeter).  The  dose 
should  be  large;  say  a  table-spoonful  to  full-grown 
hogs  is  an  excellent  means;  its  action  is  upon  the 
kidneys  and  skin,  and  in  this  way  serves  to  carry 
off  much  of  the  unhealthy  material  which  would 
otherwise  be  retained  in  the  blood.  It  also  acts 
upon  the  inflamed  surface,  and  fliddizes  as  it  were  the 
tough  mucus  secreted  by  the  inflamed  membrane, 
and  actually  depletes  and  relieves  congestion.  Prob- 
ably the  best  way  to  give  it  is  by  dissolving  it  in 
flaxseed-tea  or  water.  Too  much  attention  can  not 
be  given  to  warmth  and  protection  from  a  cold,  damp 
atmosphere.  If  the  affected  hogs  have  not  been 
accustomed  to  bedding  in  a  house  or  shelter,  which 
is  frequently  the  case,  they  ought  at  once  to  be  pro- 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES.  83 

vided  with  comfortable  quarters.  This  is  especially 
important  for  the  reason  that  the  disease  is  one  of 
winter  and  spring  almost  exclusively.  If  these 
means  be  neglected,  all  medical  treatment  will  be 
wholly  in  vain,  and  even  with  the  best  surroundings 
treatment  is  too  often  inefficacious. 

The  symptoms  and  treatment  are  thus  described 
by  Cartwright :  He  had  six  pigs  attacked  at  nearly 
the  same  period.  Their  respiration  was  very  quick ; 
they  husked  and  foamed  at  the  mouth;  they  could 
not  bear  to  be  pressed  on  the  throat,  and  swallowed 
liquids  with  difficulty.  To  some  of  them  jalap  was 
given,  and  to  others  castor-oil  and  goose-oil.  One 
was  blistered  under  the  throat,  and  all  bled  by  cut- 
ting off  their  tails.  They  died  in  the  course  of  eight 
and  forty  hours  from  the  commencement  of  the  dis- 
ease. On  examination  he  found  much  inflammation 
under  the  jaws  and  throat,  and  also  much  swelling, 
with  affused  serum.  In  some  of  their  windpipes 
and  the  bronchia  there  was  a  great  quantity  of 
mucus,  but  apparently  no  inflammation. 

THE    CHEST. 

In  the  human  being  this  constitutes  the  superior 
and  in  quadrupeds  the  anterior  portion  of  the  body. 
It  is  separated  from  the  abdomen  by  the  diaphragm. 
The  latter  is  of  a  musculo-memhranous  nature,  and  is 


84  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

the  main  agent  in  resioiration.  In  its  quiescent  state 
it  presents  its  convex  surface  toward  the  abdomen. 
The  anterior  convexity  abuts  upon  the  lungs ;  the  pos- 
terior concavity  is  occupied  by  a  portion  of  the  abdom- 
inal viscera  (or  organs).  The  diaphragm  of  the  pig 
resembles  that  of  the  ox  and  sheep. 

The  chest  is  divided  into  two  cavities  by  a  mem- 
brane termed  the  mediastinum  (or  partition),  which 
evidently  consists  of  a  duplicate  of  the  pleura  or 
lining  membrane  of  the  thorax  (chest) .  The  pleura 
is  a  serus  membrane,  possessed  of  little  or  no  sensi- 
bility, and  acted  upon  by  but  few  nerves.  It  is 
smooth  and  polished,  covers  the  bony  wall  of  the 
thorax  from  the  spine  to  the  sternum  (breast-bone), 
and  from  the  first  rib  to  the  diaphragm,  and  dilating 
and  forming  a  kind  of  bag,  which  spreads  over  and 
contains  the  whole  of  the  lung.  The  lungs  form  two 
distinct  organs,  the  right  being  somewhat  larger  than 
the  left  one.  They  are  separated  from  each  other  by 
that  folding  over  of  the  pleura  termed  the  mediasti- 
num (partition),  and  hence  may  be  said  to  be  inclosed 
in  separate  bags,  or  to  have  dii^imci  pleuras. 

Each  lung  is  subdivided.  The  right  one  consists 
of  three  unequal  lobes,  the  smallest  of  which  is  again 
subdivided  into  numerous  lohules,  differing  in  number 
in  different  swine.  The  left  lung  consists  of  two  lobes, 
and  the  fissure  between  these  is  not  very  deep. 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND   DISEASES.  85 


Beneatii  the  left  lung  the  heart  is  situated,  and 
partially  inclosed  in  another  membranous  bag,  termed 
the  pericardium,  which  closely  supports  and  protects 
it.  The  heart  has  two  sides,  the  one  devoted  to  the 
circulation  of  the  blood  through  the  lungs,  and  the 
other  to  its  circulation  through  the  frame  generally. 
Each  side  is  divided  into  two  compartments — the  one 
above,  the  other  below — which  are  termed  the  auricles 
and  ventricles.  The  right  auricle^  as  well  as  the  ven- 
tricle, is  larger  than  the  left,  and  its  parietes  (walls) 
are  thinner.  Much  more  might  be  said  about  the 
anatomy  of  the  heart,  but  this  is  deemed  sufficient 
for  all  practical  pm'poses. 

The  organs  should  be  studied  and  examined  by 
every  one  interested  in  hog  raising.  This  will 
require  some  care  and  patience,  but  will  reward  the 
laborer,  as  it  will  give  him  the  best  idea  he  can  have 
of  the  situation  and  play  of  the  organs. 

In  addition  to  the  excellent  description  of  Youatt, 
the  author  desires  to  give  as  correct  an  idea  of  the 
lungs  as  possible,  inasmuch  as  he  will  have  use  for 
it  in  giving  his  views  of  an  exceedingly  important 
and  terrible  disease,  and  upon  which  he  has  given 
much  time,  labor,  and  expense. 

Let  the  reader  peruse  again  the  description  of  the 
chest,  its  divisions,  and  the  situation  of  the  lungs,  so 
as  to  have  the  whole  mapped  out  in  his  mind. 


86  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  windpipe  leads  from 
the  larynx  to  the  lungs,  but  that  at  the  beginning  of 
the  chest  it  is  divided  into  two  branches — one  branch 
going  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the  left  lung. 
Immediately  after  they  divide,  these  two  branches 
enter  the  apex  of  the  lung  (for  the  lung  is  cone- 
shaped)  ;  the  apex  of  the  cone  looking  forward  and 
the  base  looking  backward  toward  the  belly.  Now, 
immediately  upon  entering  the  lung,  these  tubes  again 
divide  and  subdivide,  like  the  branching  of  a  tree, 
throughout  the  whole  lung  from  apex  to  ha^e^  and 
until  they  (the  tubes)  become  so  small  as  to  be 
scarcely,  if  at  aU,  visible  to  the  naked  eye.  The 
function  of  these  tubes  is  to  convey  to  the  lungs  the 
oxygen  of  the  atmosphere,  and  to  throw  off  the  poison- 
ous carbonic  acid  gas,  which,  if  not  thus  gotten  rid  of, 
poisons  the  animal.  Thus  what  is  called  respiration 
or  breathing  is  carried  on. 

The  act  of  breathing  is  carried  on  by  the  involuntary 
action  of  certain  muscles  called  respiratory  muscles. 
These  are  the  muscles  of  the  chest,  the  diaphragm, 
and  the  muscles  of  the  abdomen  or  belly.  The  anatomy 
of  the  heart  has  already  been  given.  It  now  remains 
to  describe  its  action,  and  the  great  blood-vessels 
which  go  to  and  from  that  organ;  and,  as  before,  the 
author  avails  himself  of  the  description  given  by 
Youatt. 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES.  87 

As  before  stated,  ^'tlie  heart  has  two  sides — the  one 
devoted  to  the  circulation  of  the  blood  through  the 
lungs,  and  the  other  to  its  circulation  through  the 
frame  generally." 

The  great  artery  or  aorta  conies  off  from  the  left 
side  of  the  heart,  and  it  is  through  this  that  the  blood 
is  sent  out  through  the  system. 

"  The  aorta  of  the  pig  separates  almost  immediately 
after  its  commencement  into  two  trunks,  the  smaller 
of  which  leads  forward,  and  gives  forth  those  arteries 
which  in  other  animals  arise  from  the  cross  of  this 
artery^  and  the  other,  which  is  larger  in  diameter, 
inclines  backward.  These  are  usually  termed  the 
anterior  and  foderior  aorta.  The  beating  of  the  heart 
may  be  felt  on  the  left  side,  whence  also  the  pulse 
may  be  taken,  or  from  the  femoral  a.rtery^  which 
crosses  the  inside  of  the  thigh  in  an  oblique  direction. 
In  swine,  in  a  state  of  health,  the  pulsations  are 
from  seventy  to  eighty  in  a  minute." 

Perhaps  it  might  be  useful  to  some  readers  who 
have  given  these  matters  but  little  attention  to 
say  that  there  are  three  kinds  of  blood-vessels;  viz., 
arteries^  which  carry  the  blood  out  from  the  left  side 
of  the  heart  throughout  the  whole  system;  the  veins^ 
which  serve  to  carry  the  blood  back  to  the  right  side 
of  the  heart  and  to  the  lungs ;  and  the  caioillaries  (hair- 
like vessels,)  that  carry  the  blood  through  the  minute 


88  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

parts,  and  indeed  every  part  of  the  body,  and  are 
situated  intermediately  between  the  ends  of  the 
arteries  and  veins. 

Thus  the  round  of  the  circulation  is  made :  first, 
from  the  heart  through  the  arteries;  second,  through 
the  capillaries  to  the  veins  ;  third,  the  blood  returning 
from  the  extremities  of  the  body  passes  through  the 
veins  back  to  the  heart  from  whence  it  started,  thence 
to  the  lungs,  where  it  is  made  fit  to  return  to  the  left 
side  of  the  heart,  to  go  the  same  round  again  through 
the  system. 

Of  course  the  heart,  like  all  the  other  organs  of  the 
body,  may  become  diseased,  but  its  affections  are  so 
difficult  of  detection,  and  so  little  amenable  to  treat- 
ment, that  it  is  not  believed  to  be  profitable  to  devote 
space  to  a  consideration  of  them. 

The  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  heart  is  given 
more  for  the  purpose  of  understanding  other  diseased 
processes,  and  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  have  not 
had  the  opportunity  of  studying  these  very  interesting 
matters,  and  of  which  every  man  should  have  some 
knowledge. 

THE  BRONCHIAL   TUBES  AND   THEIR   DISEASES. 

Swine  are  very  liable  to  attacks  of  bronchitis  (in- 
flammation of  the  tubes),  and  also  liable  to  worms  in 
the  hronchia^  both  of  which  affections  manifest  them- 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,   AND   DISEASES.  89 

selves  under  the  form  of  cougli,  inappetenci/^  and  loss  of 
flesh.  The  former  may  be  subdued  by  bleeding  and 
cooling  medicines,  as  sulphur,  cream  tartar,  or  pulv. 
antimonials. 

The  latter  (worms)  almost  invariably  cause  the 
death  of  the  animal  from  the  irritation  they  create, 
and  the  inflammation  which  is  thus  set  up.  The 
author  is  disposed  to  differ  from  Youatt  in  regard  to 
the  last  observation,  and  does  so  with  much  diffidence. 
The  author  has  repeatedly  seen  small  thread-like 
worms  in  the  windpipe  and  bronchial  tubes  after  the 
animal  had  become  fat,  and  he  further  states,  what  he 
is  aware  has  been  disputed,  that  he  has  seen  repeat- 
edly the  trichince  in  the  same  locality,  so  pronounced 
by  good  microscopists. 

Now,  if  the  hog  grows  fat  while  these  jjafxisites 
exist  in  the  tubes,  certainly  they  are  not  so  fatal  as 
Youatt  has  been  led  to  believe.  That  death  is  the 
inevitable  result  of  their  presence  in  the  windpipe  and 
tubes  the  experience  of  the  author  does  not  permit 
him  to  believe.  Youatt  does  not  inform  us  as  to  the 
kind  of  worm  to  \yhich  he  alludes;  but  it  is  certain, 
though  mentioned  by  no  other  writer  than  the  one 
referred  to  known  to  the  author,  that  worms  do  inhabit 
the  air  passages  and  get  into  the  ultimate  tubes  and 
air  cells  of  the  lung  of  the  hog.  The  author's  obser- 
vation teaches    him   that   these    worms  are  almost 

8 


90  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

exclusively  confined  to  pigs  from  three  to  fifteen 
months  old.  But  let  this  suffice  for  the  present  on 
this  subject. 

The  writer  wishes  now  to  call  attention  to  the 
efficacy  of  muriate  of  ammonia  in  large  doses  in  the 
treatment  of  hronchitis.  Half  a  table-spoonful  of  the 
medicine,  finely  powdered  and  dissolved  in  flaxseed- 
tea,  or  indeed  as  much  as  the  animal  can  be  induced 
to  take,  will  be  found  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  all 
the  remedies  in  use.  In  addition  to  this,  it  is  very 
cheap.  It  may  be  given  either  in  solution  or  mixed 
with  bran  or  meal.  As  its  taste  is  very  like  common 
salt,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  get  the  animal  to  take 
it.  Moreover,  it  is  perfectly  innocent.  Saltpeter 
(nitrate  of  potash),  used  in  the  same  way,  will  also 
give  good  results.  These,  with  soups,  bran-mash, 
and  proper  protection,  will  cure  most  of  the  cases  of 
hronchitis. 

INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  LUNGS. 

Simple,  uncomplicated  inflammation  of  the  lungs 
is  rather  a  common  affection  in  swine.  This  disease 
is  more  generally  known  under  the  term  of  rising  of 
the  lights.  It  is  one  of  the  most  fatal  of  all  the  dis- 
eases of  the  hog.  It  has  been  thought  by  some  to 
be  contagious  and  by  others  hereditary.  There  is 
no  good  foundation  for  either   notion.       The  same 


ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  DISEASES.  91 

laws  that  govern  the  production  of  the  disease  in 
the  horse  and  in  the  human  being  produce  it  also  in 
the  hog. 

There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  disease  in 
question  is  produced  by  atmospherical  changes,  or 
influences  which  create  a  tendency,  as  Youatt  says, 
"to  jmhnonari/  affections;  and  these,  acting  upon  a 
system  heated  and  predisposed  to  disease  by  the 
mode  of  feeding  adopted  in  most  piggeries,  give  a 
serious  and  inflammatory  character  to  that  which 
would  otherwise  merely  be  a  simple  attack  of  ca- 
tarrh; or  it  may  arise  from  irritating  influences  in 
the  food  itself,  or  from  damp,  ill-ventilated  sties. 
Whatever  be  its  cause,  it  generally  runs  through  the 
whole  piggery  when  it  does  make  its  appearance." 
This  is  perhaps  true,  for  the  same  cause  that  has 
produced  it  in  one  case  would  be  very  Hkely  to  pro- 
duce it  in  any  number  similarly  situated.  There  can 
be  but  little  doubt  that  in  our  western  country  it  is 
caused  by  exposure,  inattention  to  proper  protection, 
and  insufficient  food,  both  in  quahty  and  quantity. 

The  prominent  indications  of  the  disease  are  loss 
of  appetite,  incessant  and  distressing  cough,  and 
heaving  of  the  flanks.  The  animal  can  not  lie  down, 
or  if  he  does  he  rises  immediately.  He  seems  in 
great  pain,  and  is  restless  and  thirsty. 

"As  soon  as  the  first  symptoms  are  perceived  the 


92  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

animal  should  be  bled.  The  fcilate  perhaps  Avill  be 
the  best  place  in  this  case  to  take  blood  from.  Pur- 
gatives must  be  given,  but  cautiously.  Epsom  salts 
and  sulphur  will  be  best  administered  in  a  dose  of 
from  two  to  four  drachms  of  each,  according  to  the 
size  of  the  animal."  To  these  means  calomel  and 
nitrate  of  potash  in  alterative  doses — e.  g.^  ten  grains 
of  calomel  and  one  drachm  of  nitrate  of  potash  at  a 
dose,  three  or  four  times  a  day.  Attention  should 
be  given  to  keeping  the  animal  warm,  and  he  should 
have  warm  slops  or  bran-mash,  or  any  unirritating 
food.    This  V\^ill  perhaps  be  the  best  that  can  be  done. 

The  free  use  of  the  nitrate  of  potash  is  particu- 
larly m^ged.  It  can  be  easily  given,  dissolved  in 
flaxseed-tea,  particularly  if  the  animal  is  not  allowed 
water  to  drink.  The  hlack  sulphiiret  of  antimony  in 
tea-spoonful  doses,  mixed  with  the  food,  given  several 
times  a  day,  will  be  found  very  serviceable.  These 
remedies  act  in  a  two-fold  way,  as  expectorants  and 
on  the  skin  and  kidneys,  and  in  this  way  allay  fever, 
and  carry  off  by  the  skin  and  kidneys  much  morbid 
material.  Attention  should  in  all  cases  be  given  to 
these  important  organs. 

The  author  proposes  to  give  special  attention  to 
■pleuro-pneumonia  in  its  epidemic  form  in  another  con- 
nection. 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  93 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE    ALIMENTARY    CANAL. 

The  gullet  or  oesophagus — The  stomach — The  intestines,  large  and 
small — Inflammation  of  the  bowels ;  treatment — Colic ;  treatment — 
Diarrhea;  treatment — Gorget  of  the  maw;  cause;  treatment — The 
liver — The  spleen — Peritoneum,  inflammation  of;  treatment — Woi'ms 
in  the  intestines;  varieties;  treatment — Kidneys  and  bladder,  dis- 
eases of;  treatment  of. 

'^  The  gullet  or  oesophagus  is  a  musciilo-memhranous 
tube,  commencing  at  the  pharynx,  passing  down  the 
throat  on  the  left  side  of  the  windpipe,  entering  the 
chest  in  company  with  that  tube,  penetrating  through 
the  folds  of  the  diaphragm^  and  terminating  in  the 
stomach  through  an  orifice  termed  the  cardial 
(Youatt.) 

THE    STOMACH. 

The  stomach  of  the  hog  is  a  much  more  simple 
apparatus  than  that  of  the  ox  and  the  sheep ;  it  is  a 
truly  omnivorous  one,  and  beautifully  adapted  by  its 
pyramidal  appendage  and  glandular  structure,  as  well 
as  by  the  villous^  mucous  membrane  with  which  it  is 


94  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

lined,  for  the  digestion  of  the  heterogeneous  (mixed) 
food  which  it  is  destined  to  receive,  being  perhaps 
more  analogous  to  that  of  the  horse  than  to  any 
other  animal.  In  form  it  is  glohulous.  Its  large 
blind  cavity  is  very  voluminous,  and  is  surmoimted 
in  front  by  a  horn-like  appendage.  The  narrow, 
large  portion  which  shuts  on  the  fyloruB  greatly 
resembles  this  hood-shaped  appendage.  On  each 
side  of  the  cardia  are  two  transversal  folds,  and  the 
cardia  itself  is  half  way  between  the  pt/lorus  and  the 
large  cavity. 

The  stomach  has  three  coats — the  outermost  or 
peritoneum^  which  constitutes  the  common  covering  of 
all  the  intestines  (bowels);  the  muscular  or  fibrous 
coat,  which  acts  upon  and  mingles  the  food,  and  pre- 
pares it  for  digestion;  and  the  mucous  or  villous  coat, 
which  is  pecuHarly  developed  in  the  pig,  and  into 
which  opens  the  mouths  of  numerous  little  vessels 
conveying  the  gastric  juice  to  the  semi-digested  food, 
and  by  its  action  converting  it  into  a  pultaceous  fluid, 
commonly  called  chyme. 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  very  short  but  clear  de- 
scription of  the  stomach  that  the  middle  coat  or 
layer  is  a  muscular  or  musculo-fihrous  layer,  and  it  is 
by  its  action  that  the  food,  after  reaching  the  stom- 
ach, is  mixed  with  the  gastric  juice  by  the  contrac- 
tion  of  its  fibers^  and  thus  the  pulpy  mass  is  dissolved 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  95 

by  the  gastric  juice,  and  passed  into  the  bowels  to 
undergo  a  further  process  by  being  mixed  with  the 
intestinal  juices,  such  as  the  bile  and  the  jjancreatic 
juice;  and  thus,  as  it  passes  along  the  canal,  the  nu- 
trient parts,  or  such  as  are  fit  to  make  blood,  are  ab- 
sorbed and  converted  into  a  fluid  fit  to  be  circulated 
through  the  system  for  its  nourishment.  And  this 
brings  us  to  the  next  section  of  this  great  canal. 

THE  INTESTINES   (bOWELS). 

The  intestines  of  the  hog  bear  a  stronger  resem- 
blance to  those  of  the  human  being  than  we  find  in 
any  other  animal.  They  are  sixteen  times  the 
length  of  the  body  of  the  animal,  and  the  propor- 
tions of  the  small  intestines  to  the  large  are  as  three 
to  one.  They  are  composed  of  four  coats  or  layers. 
The  outer  or  peritoneal  one  is  formed  of  that  mem- 
brane which  invests  and  retains  in  its  proper  position 
every  portion  of  the  contents  of  the  belly.  The 
second  layer  is  muscular^  and  by  its  action  propels 
the  contents  of  the  stomach  gradually  onward.  The 
office  of  the  third  is  to  lubricate  the  innermost  coat, 
and  for  this  purpose  it  is  supplied  with  numerous 
glands^  surrounded  by  cellular  tissue.  The  fourth  or 
lining  coat  is  soft,  villous,  and  in  a  healthy  state 
always  covered  with  mucus.  The  food,  having  been 
sufficiently  converted  into  chyme  by  the  action  of 


96  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

the  stomach,  is  gradually  propelled  through  the  p^- 
loriG  orifice  by 

THE  DUODENUM, 

Or  first  intestine^  where  it  is  submitted  to  the  influ- 
ence of  two  fluids — that  secreted  by  the  ^pancreas 
and  by  the  liver — and  the  combined  action  of  which 
separates  the  nutritious  from  the  worthless  portion, 
causing  the  former  to  assume  the  appearance  of  a 
thick  whitish  fluid,  and  the  latter  that  of  a  yellow 
pulpy  substance.     It  next  passes  into 

THE  JEJUNUM  AND  ILEUM, 

Where  it  undergoes  still  further  alteration,  and  where 
a  considerable  portion  of  it  is  taken  up  by  the  lacteal 
vessels,  which  open  into  these  two  small  intestines, 
and  is  conveyed  away  to  nourish  the  frame,  and  be- 
come mingled  with  the  blood  and  supply  the  waste 
in  it.  These  intestines  are  of  equal  diameter  in  the 
pig  throughout  their  whole  extent,  and  the  termina- 
tion of  the  jejunum  and  the  commencement  of  the 
ileum  is  by  no  means  distinctly  defined ;  the  latter  is, 
however,  longer  than  the  former,  and  opens  into 

THE     CCECUM, 

With  a  valvular  opening  close  to  the  aperture  into  the 
colon.     The  coecum  is  a  kind  of  bag,  supplied  with 


^    THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  97 

numerous  secretory  glands,  which  furnish  it  with  a 
fluid  which  once  more  acts  upon  those  portions  of  the 
digested  food  which  reaches  it,  extracting  from  them 
any  nutritious  portions  which  may  chance  still  to 
remain. 

The  matter,  having  reached  the  base  of  this  intestine, 
is  returned  by  the  muscular  action  of  its  inner  coat, 
and  being  prevented  by  the  valve  from  re-entering 
the  ileum,  passes  into  the 

COLON   (or  large  GUT), 

The  largest  of  the  large  intestines,  some  of  the  con- 
volutions of  which  equal  the  stomach  in  size,  while 
others  are  as  small  as  the  small  intestines.  Here  the 
watery  parts  of  the  mass  are  extracted,  and  the  resi- 
duum or  harder  f cecal  portion  is  retained  for  a  while, 
and  finally  expelled  through  the  rectum. 

It  will  be  readily  imagined  that  this  complicated 
process  must  occasionally  become  deranged  by  various 
causes,  and  that  hence  will  arise  different  diseases  of 
a  more  or  less  serious  nature.  This  is,  however,  less 
the  case  in  swine  than  most  of  our  other  domesticated 
animals,  from  the  circumstance  of  their  stomach  and 
intestines  being  prepared  by  the  softening  power  of 
their  highly  mucous,  villous  lining  for  the  reception  and 
digestion  of  a  hetorogeneous  mass  of  food  which  to 
other  animals  would  be  actually  poisonous,  rendering 


98  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

it  evident  that,  although  the  hog  in  a  state  of  nature 
is  an  herhivorous  animal,  he  was  also  destined  to 
become  omnivorous  for  the  service  of  man. 

Having  now  considered  this  great  canal  into  which 
the  food  of  whatever  kind  must  pass,  and  having 
gotten  some  knowledge  of  its  anatomy  and  functions, 
we  come  to  consider  the  diseases  to  which  it  is  liable. 
These  are  few  in  number,  but  some  of  them  very 
grave  in  character  and  results.  From  the  great 
variety  of  material  which  the  hog  is  known  to  take 
into  his  stomach,  and  the  bad  and  even  disgusting 
quality  of  some  of  it,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  his 
stomach  and  bowels  should  sometimes  become  dis- 
eased. The  first  of  these  diseases  to  which  we  wish 
to  call  attention  is 

ENTERITIS  OR  INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  BOWELS. 

This  disease  consists  in  inflammation  of  one  or 
more  of  the  coats  (or  layers)  of  the  intestines,  and  is 
capable  of  being  produced  by  various  irritating  causes, 
as  the  foul  air  of  badly  ventilated  sties,  unwhole- 
some food,  etc. 

The  symptoms  are  dullness,  loss  of  appetite,  con- 
stipation, spasms  or  convulsions,  continued  restless 
motion — either  to  and  fro  or  round  and  round — 
staggering  gait,  and  evident  symptoms  of  suffering. 
The  most  successful  treatment  is  warm  baths,  dry 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  9S 

litter,  and  general  warmth  and  comfort,  and  internally 
purgatives  and  enemas  (injections).  Castor-oil,  calomel, 
or  rhubarb  are  the  best  purgatives  for  cases  of  this 
nature,  and  the  enemas  (injections)  should  be  of 
an  oleaginous  emolient  nature;  the  diet  should  be 
restricted  to  the  simplest  and  lightest  food.  Oat-meal, 
skim-milk,  or  whey  are  the  best  things. 

COLIC. 

"The  hog  is  frequently  attacked  by  this  malady, 
which  generally  arises  from  unwholesome  food,  cold, 
or  wet,  filthy  sties."  Or,  to  be  more  specific,  it  is 
sometimes  produced  by  allowing  the  animals  to  eat 
too  heartily  of  immature  fruits  and  vegetables,  and 
rotten  corn,  which  it  is  common  for  our  western 
farmers  to  give  their  hogs.  A  fermentative  process 
is  set  up  by  which  gas  is  set  free,  and  in  this  way  the 
disease  is  brought  about.  The  disease  is  recognized  by 
restlessness,  cries  of  pain,  rolling  on  the  ground,  etc. 

The  treatment  consists  in  emptying  the  bowels  by 
a  brisk  purgative  of  castor-oil  and  turpentine,  propor- 
tionate to  the  size  of  the  animal.  To  a  full-grown 
hog  two  ounces  of  oil  and  half  a  table-spoonful  of  the 
turpentine ;  in  addition,  get  the  hog  to  drink  as  freely 
as  possible  of  water  in  which  bicarbonate  soda  has 
been  dissolved,  with  a  little  ginger.  These  remedies 
will  generally  be  very  readily  taken  in  some  warm 


100  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

milk.     These  remedies  may  be  repeated  occasionally 
till  the  bowels  are  freely  moved. 

The  above  remedies  will  generally  give  speedy 
relief.  If,  however,  they  should  fail,  ten  drops  of 
creosote,  in  milk  or  some  mucilaginous  fluid,  will  be 
found  an  excellent  remedy. 

DIARRHEA. 

"This  is  a  disease  very  common  among  all  our 
young  domesticated  animals,  and  it  is  also  repeat- 
edly met  with  in  older  ones;  a  scanty  allowance  or 
unwholesome  food  will  produce  it,  as  will  also  over- 
feeding or  too  nutritious  diet."  Here  also  immature 
fruits  and  garbage  from  the  kitchen  and  garden,  and 
unwholesome  slops  of  any  kind,  are  fruitful  sources 
of  the  disease. 

"The  disease  consists  in  a  frequent  discharge  of 
the  faecal  matters,  in  a  thin  or  slimy  state,  but  not 
actually  altered,  and  arises  from  inflammation  or  con- 
gestion of  the  mucous  lining  of  the  intestinesr 

The  diarrhea^  in  most  cases  perhaps,  is  rather  due 
to  a  fermentation  or  acid  state  of  the  stomach  and 
bowels,  and  not  to  inflammation  or  to  simple  irritation 
only.  Though  when  the  discharges,  instead  of  being 
simply  the  faecal  matter,  is  mixed  with  mucus  and 
blood,  then  it  is  almost  certain  that  inflammation 
exists  in  some  portion  of  the  canal.      As  already 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  101 

remarked^  it  may  depend  upon  simple  irritation, 
caused  by  some  irritant  article  of  food  taken  into  the 
stomach,  some  article  hard  of  digestion  or  wholly 
indigestible.  It  will  generally  be  found,  by  careful 
examination,  that  the  discharges  are  acid;  and,  as 
Youatt  very  correctly  remarks,  "What  we  conceive 
to  be  an  attack  of  diarrhea  is  often  only  an  effort  of 
nature  to  throw  off  some  offensive  matter,  and  will 
cease  of  itself  in  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours." 
But  when  it  goes  on  longer  than  this,  or  for  any  con- 
siderable length  of  time,  it  must  be  taken  seriously 
in  hand,  as  otherwise  it  will  weaken  the  animal  and 
impair  its  value. 

"The  best  remedy  for  it  is  the  compound  com- 
monly called  calves'  cordial;  viz.,  prepared  chalk, 
one  ounce;  powdered  catechu,  half  an  ounce;  pow- 
dered ginger,  two  drachms;  powdered  opium,  half  a 
drachm.  Mix  and  dissolve  in  half  a  pint  of  pepper- 
mint water.  From  half  an  ounce  to  an  ounce  of  this 
mixture,  according  to  the  size  of  the  animal,  should 
be  given  twice  in  a  day,  and  strict  attention  paid  to 
the  diet,  which  should  consist  as  much  as  posible 
of  dry,  farinaceous  food." 

The  bicarbonate  of  soda  will,  in  a  majority  of 
cases,  be  sufficient  for  these  cases.  It  might  be  com- 
bined with  a  little  calomel;  thus,  calomel,  forty 
grains  ;  bicarbonate  of  soda,  one  ounce  ;  to  be  divided 


102  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

into  four  doses — a  dose  three  or  four  times  a  day,  in 
bran-mash  or  corn-meal. 

GORGET   OF   THE    MAW. 

"This  disorder  arises  from  repletion,  and  is  found 
alike  in  old  animals  and  sucking  pigs.  Its  symptoms 
strongly  resemble  those  of  colic.  The  remedies  too 
are  purgatives.  Epsom  salts  is  here  perhaps  as  good 
a  thing  as  can  be  given,  in  doses  of  from  a  quarter 
of  an  ounce  to  an  ounce.  It  might  as  well  be  termed 
indigestion,  for  such  it  certainly  is,  the  stomach  being 
overloaded  with  food.  In  sucking  pigs  it  usually 
arises  from  the  coagulation  of  milk  in  the  stomach." 

This  state  of  things  often  happens  in  our  western 
fattening  pens  from  the  pernicious  habit  of  over- 
feeding hogs,  when  first  put  in  pens,  on  green  or 
immatm^e  corn,  till  they  are  actually  stuffed  to  reple- 
tion. These  hogs,  taken  from  the  woods  poor,  half- 
starved,  are  allowed  as  much  corn  as  they  can  eat, 
as  the  farmers  say,  "to  give  them  a  good  start." 
It  is  quite  astonishing  that  so  few  of  them  suffer. 
They  become  surfeited,  and  will  sometimes  refuse  to 
eat  for  a  day  or  two  till  the  surfeit  passes  away. 
Youatt  is  certainly  correct  in  directing  in  these  cases 
the  speedy  action  of  a  purgative,  thus  relieving  the 
gorged  stomach  and  bowels,  and  in  this  way  removing 
the  cause  of  the  distress. 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  103 

Nature  frequently  comes  to  the  relief  of  the  dis- 
tressed animal  by  causing  the  stomach  to  throw  ofi' 
its  contents  by  vomiting,  and  this  hint  given  by  na- 
ture would  seem  to  indicate  an  emetic  if  one  could  be 
given,  and  the  instinct  of  the  animal  will  often  induce 
him,  if  put  in  his  way,  to  take  it.  For  this  purpose 
common  salt  and  mustard  might  be  given. 

THE    LIVER. 

"This  organ,"  says  Youatt,  "in  swine  does  not 
appear  to  be  so  subject  to  disease  as  it  is  in  most  of 
our  other  domesticated  animals."  This  observation 
does  not  seem  to  the  writer  to  be  correct.  He  is 
quite  satisfied  that  in  America  this  organ  is  quite 
frequently  the  seat  of  disease,  even  after  the  hog 
grows  fat.  At  slaughtering  time  he  has  often  seen 
this  organ  diseased,  or  evidence  of  disease  having 
existed  in  it  at  some  time.  There  are  frequently 
abscesses  and  hard  tumors  in  the  organ,  and  some  of 
these  tumors  actually  contain  pus  (matter) .  For  the 
present  we  shall  not  go  any  further  into  this  matter; 
but,  in  connection  with  another  disease,  will  prove 
from  examination  made  after  death  that  this  organ  is 
badly  diseased. 

This  organ  is  "  smaller  in  swine  than  in  sheep,  and 
larger  than  we  find  it  in  the  dog,  in  accordance  with 
that  anatomical  law  which  seems  to  be  in  force  in  all 


104  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

animals — namely,  that  the  size  of  the  liver  shall  be 
in  inverse  proportion  to  that  of  the  lungs.  It  is  sit- 
uated in  the  anterior  ^sj^i  of  the  ahdomen  (belly),  and 
its  upper  surface  rests  against  the  concavity  of  the 
diaphram.  Its  office  is  to  receive  the  blood  that  is 
returned  from  the  intestines,  separate  from  it  and 
secrete  the  fluid  termed  hile,  and  then  forward  the 
residue  of  the  blood  onward  to  the  lungs,  where  it 
undergoes  the  usual  aerating  process,  and  becomes 
transmuted  into  arterial  blood." 

This  fluid  or  hile  thus  secreted,  when  in  a  healthy 
state,  and  not  in  undue  proportion,  stimulates  the 
mucous  membrane  and  increases  the  peristaltic  mo- 
tion of  the  intestines,  excites  the  secretion  of  the 
mucus  requisite  to  preserve  these  parts  in  a  healthy 
state,  hastens  the  process  of  separation  of  the  nutri- 
tious from  the  innutritions  parts  of  the  food,  and  facil- 
itates the  escape  of  the  f cecal  matters.  It  also  acts 
chemically  upon  the  various  substances  which  are 
devoured  by  the  animal,  and  is  the  chief  agent  in 
neutralizing  the  acids  which  some  of  these  would 
otherwise  create.  The  liver  of  the  pig  has  four  dis- 
tinct lobes. 

THE     SPLEEN. 

''In  the  hog  the  spleen  is  very  long,  and  nearly 
of  a  uniform  breadth  and  thickness  throughout  its 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  105 

whole  extent.  It  lies  on  the  left  side  of  the  ahdo- 
meUj  and  is  attached  to  the  stomach  by  the  folds  of 
the  epiploon.  Its  texture  is  almost  like  that  of  the 
sponge  in  appearance,  consisting  of  innumerable  cells 
of  every  size  and  form ;  yet  it  is  firm  to  the  touch. 
In  color  it  is  a  dark,  deep,  reddish  brown." 

Nothing  is  positively  known  as  to  the  exact  func- 
tion of  the  spleen.  Some  contend  that  it  plays  some 
important  part  in  digestion,  but  this  can  not  be  the 
case,  since  animals  have  lost  this  organ  without 
affecting  the  health  of  the  animal  in  any  material 
sense.  The  diseases  of  the  spleen  are  very  obscure; 
it  frequently  becomes  enlarged  and  congested,  but 
this  might  be  accounted  for  by  its  alleged  function  of 
diverting  from  the  organs  of  the  abdomen  and  chest 
the  blood  which,  if  no  receptacle  existed,  and  it  were 
retained  by  these  organs,  would  result  in  serious  dis- 
ease. When  thus  enlarged  a  plentiful  supply  of 
common  salt  and  the  potashes  are  indicated  as  means 
of  rehef. 

PERITONEUM    (tHE    LINING    MEMBRANE    OF    THE    BELLY). 

This  portion  of  the  contents  of  the  abdomen 
(belly)  is  composed  of  cellular  tissue  and  amply 
supplied  with  absorbent  vessels ;  its  office  is  to  sepa- 
rate the  different  viscera  from  each  other  ;  to  envelop 
them,    and    attach  them  to,    and  support  them  in, 


106  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

their   proper  position.      It   is  subject  to  attacks  of 
inflammation,  technically  termed 

PERITONITIS. 

This  is  a  very  formidable  affection,  and  is  much 
more  dangerous  and  fatal  than  inflammation  of  the 
mucous  membrane.  The  symptoms  are  somewhat 
similar  to  inflammations  elsewhere,  as  that  of  the 
spleen,  liver,  etc.  There  is  a  peculiar  expression  of 
pain  and  anxiety,  and  great  tenderness  of  the  belly ; 
the  animal  utters  cries  indicating  great  pain,  and 
draws  himself  up  in  order  to  relax  the  muscles  and 
to  prevent  their  contractions,  for  when  these  are  in 
action  the  suffering  is  increased. 

At  the  beginning  the  bowels  are  costive^  but  if  the 
disease  is  not  checked  the  bowels  often  become 
irritable,  and  a  mucous  or  bloody  diarrhea  sets  in 
which  increases  the  distress  of  the  animal,  and 
serves  to  still  further  aggravate  the  case  and  exhaust 
the  powers  of  life,  and  hasten  disorganization  and 
death. 

The  main  cause  of  this  terrible  disease  is  unques- 
tionably due  to  exposure  to  cold,  improper  and 
insufficient  bedding,  and  improper  food  doubtless 
comes  in  for  a  share  of  the  mischief.  No  doubt  also 
spsT/ing  and  castrating  are  fruitful  sources  of  inflam- 
mation of  this  membrane. 


THE  ALIMENTAKY  CANAL.  107 

In  the  treatment  of  this  disease  care  should  be 
taken  not  to  give  irritating  purgatives.  Youatt  is 
correct  when  he  says,  "  Oleaginous  purgatives  are 
here  the  only  ones  which  are  admissihUr  Castor-oil 
and  spirits  of  turpentine  is  by  far  the  best  that  can 
be  given ;  the  dose  of  these  for  a  grown  hog  is, 
castor-oil  one  ounce,  spirits  turpentine  half  a  table- 
spoonful,  to  be  repeated  if  necessary.  After  the 
bowels  have  been  moved  the  utmost  quietude  should 
be  enjoined,  and  in  order  to  secure  this  a  dose  of 
opium  or  laudanum  should  be  given,  and  repeated 
from  time  to  time  till  the  animal  seems  easy.  The 
dose  of  the  powdered  opium  is  from  two  to  four 
grains,  and  of  the  laudanum  a  tea-spoonful.  Salt- 
peter (nitrate  of  potash)  dissolved  in  flaxseed-tea 
should  be  the  only  drink  allowed,  and  the  opium  or 
laudanum  might  be  suspended  in  this  fluid,  and  will 
be  taken  very  readily.  The  food  should  consist  of 
the  most  bland  and  unirritating  kind,  such  as  milk, 
bran-mash,  etc.  But,  from  the  fact  that  the  disease 
is  not  generally  recognized  in  its  early  stage,  the  best 
directed  efforts  will  fail  of  success,  and  the  mortality 
will  be  great. 

WORMS    IN    THE    INTESTINES. 

We  now  approach  a  very  interesting  and  important 
part  of  our  investigations. 


108  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

By  some  by  far  too  much  importance  has  been 
attributed  to  these  ento^oa  and  by  others  perhaps 
too  little. 

We  shall  endeavor  to  describe,  as  minutely  as  is 
profitable,  the  different  kinds  of  worms  that  infest 
the  intestines  of  the  hog,  and  the  symptoms  indicating 
their  presence,  and  the  treatment  best  adapted  to 
destroy  and  expel  them  from  the  bowels. 

Several  varieties  of  worms  are  found  in  the  bowels 
of  the  hog.  Among  these  may  be  particularly  men- 
tioned the  following :  The  common  lumhricoid^  the 
ascarides,  and  the  tape-worm. 

When  either  of  these  varieties  are  found  in  the 
bowels  in  very  great  numbers  (which  is  frequently 
the  case),  they  give  rise  to  much  irritation,  and  occa- 
sionally to  inflammation  and  death.  They  may  exist 
in  either  section  of  the  bowels  from  the  stomach  to 
the  rectum  (or  lower  end  of  the  canal) ,  but  the  ascar- 
ides  are  most  frequently  found  in  the  lower  bowel, 
though  they  have  occasionally  been  found  in  the  small 
bowels  and  even  in  the  stomach ;  they  sometimes 
infest  the  bowels  in  great  numbers,  giving  rise  to 
great  irritation  and  distress. 

The  Tape-worm. — These  parasites  in  their  mature 
state  inhabit  the  bowels  of  almost  all  vertebrated 
animals,  but  are  oftenest  found  in  the  intestines  of 
the  dog,  the  hog,  and  man.     The  hog  is  especially 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  109 

liable  to  them  on  account  of  his  habits ;  being  an 
all-eating  animal,  he  is  more  apt  to  devour  articles 
containing  the  eggs  of  these  parasites.  In  these 
transitional  stages,  the  tape-worm  occurs  as  cysU^  or 
little  sacs  in  the  flesh  and  organs  of  such  creatures 
as  form  the  food  of  their  true  bearers  or  hosts. 
These  cyBh^  of  which  it  is  thought  the  measles  in 
swine  furnish  an  example,  were  not  properly  under- 
stood till  about  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  in  the  eighteenth  century  it  was 
announced  by  Gotze  that  their  heads  resembled 
those  of  the  tape-worm.  In  1844,  Steenstrup,  Sie- 
bold,  Dujardin,  and  Kuchenmeister,  the  latter  cer- 
tainly the  highest  authority  on  questions  of  this  kind, 
showed  conclusively  that  these  cysts  taken  into  the 
stomach  of  flesh-eating  animals  ultimate d  in  tape- 
worm. These  are  interesting  facts,  and  should  be 
studied  and  remembered.  As  an  illustration  of  the 
foregoing  statements,  the  author  refers  the  reader  to 
the  chapter  on  diseased  meats,  and  to  the  statement 
made  by  Dr.  Thomas  E.  Jenkins.  The  author  has 
seen  and  examined  the  cysts  above  spoken  of,  and  is 
satisfied  that  the  statement  here  made  is  true. 

The  tape-worm  consists  of  three  parts — viz.,  head, 
neck,  and  joints.  The  head  is  a  minute  object, 
usually  square,  and  provided  with  varieties  of  suckers, 
discs^  and  a  sort  of  crown  of  horns   or    hooks,  by 


110 


TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


which  it  attaches  itself  to  the  walls  of  the  bowels. 
(See  cut  on  this  page.)  The  neck  is  slender  and 
marked  by  transverse  wrinkles,  which  are  gradually 
converted  into  joints.  With  age  these  joints  increase 
in  number,  and  finally  become  ripe,  while  new  ones 
are  continually  given  out  from  the  head  to  supply 
the  place  of  those  discharged.  Their  growth  is  rapid, 
and  some  species  attain  a  length  of  one  hundred  feet, 
while  others  are  only  a  few  lines  long.  There  are 
many  varieties  of  the  tape-worm,  but  it  would  not  be 
profitable  to  enumerate  them  in  a  work  of  this  kind. 
The  practical  fact  is  that  the  hog  is  peculiarly  liable 
to  this  parasite,  and  that  the  tcenia  solium  (tape- 
worm) in  man  and  the  cy dicer cu8  cellulosce  in  swine 
are  the  same.  In  the  hog  the  author  has  rarely  seen 
the  worm  attain  a  greater 
length  than  eighteen  inches, 
and  from  that  down  to  half 
an  inch. 

The  accompanying  cut  will 
give  a  very  good  idea  of  the 
tape-worm  in  the  hog.  The 
cut  was  taken  from  a  section 
of  the  gut  of  a  hog.  Two  large 
and  two  small  worms  are 
seen  with  their  heads  buried 
in  the  wall  of  the  gut.     The 


THE   ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  Ill 

one  on  the  right  (C)  is  partly  detached,  and  the  dark 
spot  just  above  the  head  shows  the  point  to  which  the 
head  was  fastened.  The  left  of  the  figure  (B)  shows 
the  head  entirely  buried  in  the  wall  of  the  bowel.  The 
dark  figure  in  the  center  of  the  cut,  between  the  two 
large  worms  (B  and  C),  marked  A,  is  the  head  of  the 
tape-worm  magnified  fifty  diameters.  On  each  side  of 
the  head  are  the  hooks  or  horns,  by  which  the  worm 
attaches  itself  to  the  walls  of  the  bowel.  This  ar- 
rangement of  the  head  will  explain  why  the  tape- 
worm is  so  difficult  to  expel  from  the  bowels;  in 
fact,  the  head  is  often  broken  off  in  our  attempts  to 
detach  them. 

Worms  of  all  kinds  multiply  with  very  great 
rapidity,  particularly  in  hogs  that  have  become  poor 
or  diseased. 

We  may  mention  also  in  passing  (for  we  purpose 
devoting  a  chapter  to  the  special  consideration  of  this 
variety  of  entozoa)  the  trichina  spiralis.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  describe  the  common  lumbricoid  worm 
so  often  seen  by  every  one,  but  would  simply  say 
that  this  variety  is  the  least  injurious  and  the  most 
easily  expelled  of  all  the  worms  found  in  the  bowels. 

The  symptoms  indicating  the  presence  of  worms 
in  the  intestinal  canal  are  quite  accurately  though 
very  briefly  given  by  Youatt.  He  says  that  the 
presence  of  worms  may  be  inferred  when  the  animal 


112  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

eats  voraciously  and  yet  continues  lean  and  out  of 
condition,  coughs,  runs  restlessly  about,  uttering 
squeaks  of  pain,  becomes  savage,  snapping  at  his 
companions,  and  destroying  poultry,  etc.,  that  come 
in  his  way.  The  excrements  are  generally  hard  and 
highly  colored,  the  eyes  sunken,  the  animal  becomes 
daily  more  debilitated,  and  frequent  attacks  resem- 
bling colic  tend  still  further  to  weaken  him.  Too 
often  he  dies,  for  before  these  symptoms  have  been 
noticed  the  evil  has  generally  attained  to  such  a 
height  as  to  be  beyond  the  power  of  medicine ;  for 
these  parasites^  and  the  echenorhinic  especially,  mul- 
tiply with  incredible  rapidity. 

No  doubt  all  the  above  is  true,  yet  the  most  re- 
liable sign  after  all  is  to  see  and  know  that  the  hog 
suspected  to  have  worms  is  actually  passing  them 
from  the  bowels.  This  is  the  only  positive  evidence 
of  their  presence,  and  this  can  only  be  determined 
by  careful  watching.  The  tape-worm  is  frequently 
thrown  off  by  sections  of  from  a  few  inches  to  a  foot 
or  more  at  a  time,  and  this  is  the  time  to  give 
remedies  to  expel  them. 

TREATMENT. 

Very  strong  purgatives  are  generally  rehed  upon 
to  expel  worms,  and  are  no  doubt  in  most  cases  suf- 
ficient; yet  there  are  objections  to  be  urged  to  these 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  113 

drastic  purgatives.  Much  mischief  may  be  done  by 
them,  as  they  are  apt  to  force  away  with  them  the 
lining  membrane  of  the  bowel,  especially  that  class 
of  purgatives  which  act  very  powerfully  upon  the 
large  gut. 

In  most  cases,  particularly  where  we  have  to  deal 
with  the  common  lumhricoid  or  ascarides,  turpentine 
will  be  found  an  excellent  remedy,  as  it  is  known  to 
be  exceedingly  destructive  to  worms;  and,  although 
to  many  of  our  domesticated  animals  a  dangerous 
medicine,  it  may  be  administered  with  perfect  safety 
to  the  hog.  A  tea-spoonful  may  be  safely  given  at 
a  dose.  Calomel,  from  its  known  effects  in  this  way 
on  the  human  subject,  may  also  be  given  with  good 
effect ;  from  forty  to  fifty  grains  may  be  given  at  a 
dose,  to  be  followed  in  from  six  to  twelve  hours  by 
a  brisk  purgative  of  aloes,  or  castor-oil  will  be  found 
efficacious.  Common  salt  in  abundance  should  be 
given  the  animal,  mingled  with  his  food,  or  in  any 
other  way  that  he  can  be  induced  to  take  it.  Many 
other  medicines,  such  as  worm-seed,  arsenic,  pump- 
kin-seed, sulphate  of  iron,  etc.,  have  their  advantages, 
and  are  doubtless  useful. 

The  author  prefers  the  worm-seed,  which  may  be 

obtained  at  almost  any  drug-store.      This  seed  may 

be  made  into  a  strong  decoction,  and  mingled  Avith  the 

food  or  poured  down  the  animal's  throat,  but  this  will 

10 


114  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

be  a  very  difficult  operation.  Next  to  the  above 
he  would  urge  the  administration  of  calomel  in  the 
doses  already  mentioned,  and  spirits  or  pure  washed 
oil  of  turpentine.  But  all  these  will  sometimes  fail 
to  remove  the  tape-worm.  An  emulsion  made  by 
rubbing  the  freshly-bruised  pumpkin-seed  in  warm 
water  till  it  becomes  as  thick  as  cream,  and  given 
freely  for  a  day  or  two,  and  then  followed  by  a  strong 
purge  of  powdered  aloes  or  oil,  will  often  succeed  in 
bringing  away  the  tape-worm.  The  author  urges  a 
trial  of  this  simple  means. 

THE  KIDNEYS  AND  BLADDER. 

The  kidneys  are  situated  in  the  abdomen^  on  each 
side  of  the  spine,  in  the  lumbar  region  or  loins.  The 
kidneys  separate  or  secrete  the  urine  from  the  blood, 
which,  if  not  taken  out  of  it,  would  poison  the  ani- 
mal. It  will  be  readily  seen  therefore  that  they 
perform  an  important  part  in  the  animal  economy. 
When  the  urine  is  thus  separated  it  passes  as  it  were, 
drop  by  drop,  through  a  tube  of  small  caliber,  which 
goes  fr@m  the  kidneys  to  the  bladder,  into  the  latter 
organ,  which  is  so  constructed  as  to  retain  it  till  the 
proper  time,  when  it  is  expelled  from  the  body. 

The  bladder,  when  distended,  looks  like  and  is 
really  a  bag,  large  at  one  end,  gradually  growing 
smaller  as  it  reaches  its  other  extremity,  and  termi- 


THE  ALIMENTARY  CANAL.  115 

nates  in  a  narrow  channel  called  the  urethra^  through 
which  it  discharges  its  contents  from  the  body. 

The  kidneys  and  bladder  "seem  but  little  subject 
to  disease  in  the  hog."  The  bladder  is  "protected 
by  the  surrounding  structures  from  injuries  without, 
and  the  hog,  not  being  exposed  to  those  causes  which 
render  the  horse  and  dog  peculiarly  liable  to  disease 
of  the  bladder — viz.,  speed,  long,  fatiguing  exercise, 
etc. — seems  to  be  comparatively  exempt  from  it." 
(Youatt.) 

There  is,  however,  occasionally  a  case  of  inflam- 
mation of  the  bladder,  as  evinced  by  frequent  desire 
to  pass  urine^  and  a  straining  in  the  effort,  accompa- 
nied with  indications  of  pain.  There  are  also  cases 
in  which  stone  has  been  discovered  after  death.  But 
it  must  be  admitted  that  this  is  one  affection  to  which 
the  hog  is  least  liable. 

The  treatment  should  be  very  simple.  Flaxseed- 
tea,  nitrate  of  potash,  and  cooling  drinks,  and  avoid- 
ance of  heated  and  irritating  food,  will  in  most  cases 
be  sufficient  to  remove  the  difficulty.  A  simple 
saline  purgative  will  generally  be  necessary.  The 
food  should  consist  principally  of  bran-mash,  and 
milk  or  slops. 


116  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE  SKIN   AND   ITS  DISEASES. 

Its  structure — Gangrenous  erysipelas — Lice;  how  to  destroy  them — 
Leprosy;  its  history;  treatment — Mange;  its  cause;  treatment — 
Measles;  its  nature;  cause;  treatment. 

"The  skin  of  the  hog,"  says  Youatt,  "like  that  of 
most  other  animals,  is  composed  of  separate  parts  or 
layers.  The  first  or  exterior  of  these  is  the  cuticle 
or  scarf  skin,  which  covers  the  whole  surface  of  the 
body,  and  protects  the  more  sensitive  parts  from  the 
injuries  which  might  result  to  them  from  immediate 
contact  with  external  agents.  It  is  a  thin^  tough, 
callous  texture,  perforated  with  innumerable  holes  or 
pores,  through  which  pass  the  hair  and  bristles, 
and  whence  exude  those  transpirations  by  means  of 
which  the  body  throws  off  all  impure  vapors  inju- 
rious to  the  system.  Chemical  analysis  has  proven 
it  to  be  chiefly  composed  of  gelatine,  and  conse- 
quently tougher  and  denser  in  the  hog  and  other  of 
the  pachydermita  than  it  is  in  the  horse,  ox,  and  most 
of  our  domesticated  animals." 


THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  DISEASES.  117 

Beneath  this  is  the  rete  mucosum^  a  soft  expansion 
of  tissue,  which  overspreads  and  can  with  difficulty 
be  separated  from  the  layer  below  it.  Its  purpose 
appears  to  be  to  protect  the  termination  of  the  blood- 
vessels and  nerves  of  the  skin,  which  it  in  a  measure 
envelops  or  covers.  This  layer  determines  the  color 
of  the  body  and  of  the  hair. 

The  third  and  undermost  part  is  the  cutis  vera  or 
true  skin,  an  elastic  tissue  composed  of  innumerable 
minute  fibers,  crossing  each  other  in  all  directions,  fit- 
ting closely  to  every  part  of  the  frame,  yielding  by 
its  elasticity  to  all  the  motions  of  the  body,  and  in- 
terposing its  dense,  firm  structure  between  the  more 
vital  parts  of  the  system  and  external  injuries.  In- 
numerable blood-vessels  and  nerves  pass  through  it, 
and  appear  upon  its  surface  in  the  form  of  papillce. 
It  is  in  fact  far  more  sensitive  than  the  muscles  or 
flesh. 

The  skin  varies  in  density  in  different  breeds  of 
swine.  In  some  of  the  large  old  breeds  it  is  thick, 
coarse,  tough,  and  almost  as  impenetrable  in  compar- 
ison as  the  hide  of  a  rhinoceros;  while  in  many  of 
our  smaller  breeds,  and  particularly  in  those  which 
have  a  considerable  admixture  of  Asiatic  blood,  and 
in  the  Chinese  pigs  themselves,  it  is  soft,  fine,  and 
delicate,  and  bears  no  slight  degree  of  resemblance  to 
the  skin  of  the  human  being. 


118  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

"It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  structure  so 
delicately  organized  as  the  one  we  have  been  de- 
scribing should  be  subject  to  disease.  In  the  hog  it 
is  peculiarly  so.  Many  of  the  most  serious  maladies 
to  which  he  is  subject  have  their  seat  in  the  skin. 
It  were  a  point  weU  worthy  of  study  to  inquire  into 
the  reason  of  this  fact." 

The  foregoing  is  certainly  the  best  description  of  the 
anatomy  of  the  hog  yet  presented.  Perhaps  sufficient 
stress  has  not  been  put  on  the  physiology  of  the  skin. 
The  function  of  the  skin  is  of  the  first  importance  to 
the  health  of  the  animal.  As  has  been  intimated  by 
Youatt,  much  of  the  impure  material  of  the  system 
is  thrown  off  by  means  of  the  skin,  which,  if  not 
so  disposed  of,  would  cause  disease.  The  free  action  of 
the  skin  is  essential  to  the  relief  of  disease  of  what- 
ever kind.  As  the  good  physician  gives  especial 
attention  and  care  to  the  action  of  the  skin  in  the 
treatment  of  diseases  to  which  the  human  body  is 
subject,  so  he  that  would  treat  the  diseases  of  the 
hog  successfully  must  understand  the  importance  of 
this  structure  in  health  and  disease.  The  skin  is 
highly  endowed  with  nerves,  and  hence  sensation  in 
its  greatest  intensity  and  acuteness  is  found  in  this 
structure.  Being  highly  organized,  having  innumer- 
able blood-vessels,  it  follows  that  the  diseases  of  the 
skin  are  among  the  most  painful  to  which  the  hog  is 


THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  DISEASES.  119 

liable.  The  author  can  not  refrain  from  say  ins:  in 
this  place  that  it  is  greatly  owing  to  ignorance  on 
this  subject  that  the  poor  hog  has  to  suffer.  Care- 
lessness in  providing  for  him  proper  bedding  and 
shelter  and  attention  to  cleanliness  are  the  prolific 
source  of  many  of  the  diseases  of  the  skin. 

It  may  be  urged  that  some  of  these  diseases  of 
the  skin  are  caused  by  lice  and  insects  and  vermin 
of  various  kinds.  This  is  admitted,  but  it  is  urged 
in  reply  that  these  are  engendered  by  filth,  and  most 
abound  where  filth  most  abounds,  and  where  the  ani- 
mal has  been  fed  on  unwholesome  food.  Vermin 
revel  in  filth  and  poverty,  and  this  is  not  only  so  in 
regard  to  hogs,  but  in  regard  to  all  animals.  Some 
hogs  suffer  much  more  than  others,  in  consequence 
of  having  thin  skins.  The  white  hog,  for  example, 
has  a  thinner  and  more  delicate  skin  than  the  com- 
mon, old-fashioned,  black,  long-legged,  long-nosed, 
slab-sided 

Some  skin  diseases  are  hereditary^  as  we  shall  see, 
and  other  points  that  might  be  mentioned,  and  yet 
my  statement  is  true  that  it  is  largely  owing  to  filth 
and  improper  feeding  that  causes  most  of  the  skin 
diseases  of  the  hogs,  even  those  produced  by  the 
acari  or  scahii  and  lice.  Diseases  of  the  skin  would 
be  of  comparatively  rare  occurrence  if  it  were  kept 
in  good  condition — i,  e.,  kept  clean — so  that  its  pores 


120  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

are  open  through  which  the  impurities  already  re- 
ferred to  may  find  escape.  Not  only  may  disease 
of  the  skin  be  obviated  by  keeping  it  in  a  clean, 
healthy  state,  but  the  known  sympathy  subsisting 
between  the  skin  and  the  bowels  sometimes  causes 
disease  in  the  latter,  such  as  diarrhea,  inflammation, 
etc.;  and  this  also  holds  good  in  regard  to  the  kid- 
neys, for  when  the  skin  ceases  to  perform  its  appro- 
priate function  there  is  additional  labor  for  the 
kidneys,  and  thus  disease  of  these  organs  may  result; 
or  the  impure  material  retained  in  the  system  by  the 
non-action  of  the  skin  serves  to  produce  irritation, 
and  sometimes  serious  disease  in  some  important 
internal  organ,  either  of  the  chest  or  abdomen. 

The  most  important  diseases  of  the  skin  will  now 
receive  attention.  The  first  disease  to  receive  atten- 
tion is  an  exceedingly  formidable  one,  though  happily 
not  very  common. 

GANGRENOUS  ERYSIPELAS. 

The  author  confesses  that  he  has  not  met  with  this, 
and  therefore  avails  himself  of  the  facts  collected 
by  Youatt.  He  says  :  "  This  disease,  frequently 
spoken  of  by  the  ancient  writers  as  prevailing  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  and  often  almost  as  an  epi- 
demic, among  sheep  and  swine,  is  now  of  rare 
occurrence.     Poulet  thus  describes  the  symptoms." 


^z 


THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  DISEASES.  121 

The  first  of  these,  which  lasts  some  five-^%-r^t^-. 
days,  are  uneasiness,  inquietude,  depressi<)n  of  spirits,  >.  , 
loss  of  appetite,  and  inertness.  About  the  seventh  ,  ^' 
or  eighth  day  these  gradually  increase  in  intensity ; 
the  limbs  totter,  the  body  is  alternately  hot  and  cold, 
the  ears  droop  and  are  cold,  the  head  appears  heavy, 
the  tongue  is  discolored,  the  breath  fostid,  a  thick 
mucus  flows  from  the  nostrils,  and  the  whole  of  the 
skin  becomes  tinged  with  an  erysipelatous  redness, 
which  is  most  evident  under  the  belly.  The  animal 
utters  almost  incessant  screams  of  pain.  This  inflam- 
matory state  of  the  iniegumenis  rapidly  merges  into 
decided  gangrene^  and  the  whole  diseased  surface 
becomes  of  a  livid  blue  or  violet  hue.  The  skin  is 
first  covered  with  blisters  containing  a  thin  reddish 
watery  fluid,  and  as  these  break  the  gangrenous^  dark 
colored  scabs  are  formed.  The  disease  is,  however, 
by  no  means  of  so  fatal  a  character  in  swine  as  it  is 
in  sheep,  probably  because  the  former  is  the  stronger 
animal. 

A   dose   of   Epsom  salts,   cooling  drinks   slightly 

acidulated^  and  strict  attention  to  diet  and  cleanliness, 

are  generally  all  that  will  be  required.     Should   the 

skin  appear  to  be  very  irritable  a  httle  sweet-oil  may 

be  rubbed  over  it,  or  some  sulphur  made  into  a  kind 

of    ointment  with  sweeiroil    or    palm-oil,  but    local 

applications  are  not  generally  requisite. 

11 


122  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

Exposure  to  great  heat  or  cold,  or  any  sudden 
transition  from  one  extreme  of  temperature  to 
another,  are  supposed  by  some  authors  to  be  the 
cause  of  the  disease;  while  others,  and  we  think  with 
justice,  attribute  it  to  unwholesome  or  putrid  food, 
and  to  general  inattention  and  neglect. 

LICE. 

When  swine  are  allowed  to  wallow  at  pleasure 
in  filth  and  mire,  and  are  confined  in  filthy  sties,  or 
fed  on  unwholesome  food,  or  allowed  to  get  poor, 
and  the  blood  impoverished  and  impure,  these  vermin 
are  quickly  engendered,  and  they  multiply  with 
astonishing  rapidity.  They  are  excessively  annoy- 
ing, and  sometimes  even  burrow  into  the  skin,  and 
by  their  irritation  and  the  rubbing  of  the  animal 
against  anything  with  which  he  can  get  in  contact 
sores  are  formed,  and  the  skin  is  rendered  scabby, 
and  they  so  worry  and  fatigue  the  animal  as  to 
utterly  prevent  them  from  thriving.  (Youatt.) 
"  Eric  Yiborg  states  that  these  vermin  sometimes 
burrow  their  way  into  the  flesh,  and  come  out  through 
the  eyes,  nostrils,  or  mouth,  or  have  been  known  to 
be  voided  in  the  urineT 

It  has  been  alleged  by  some  recent  writers  for  the 
newspapers  that  these  vermin  are  the  cause  of  what 
is  popularly  known  as  ^^  hog  cholera,"  but  this  seems 


THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  DISEASES.  123 

to  the  author  simply  absurd.  The  first  step  to  be 
taken  toward  effecting  a  cure  is  thoroughly  to  cleanse 
the  skin  from  every  particle  of  dirt,  and  clean  out 
and  whitewash  the  sties  and  put  in  fresh  dry  litter. 
A  variety  of  remedies  have  been  used  to  destroy 
these  pests;  probably  the  best  is  mercurial  ointment, 
turpentine,  or  tobacco-water.  Sulphur  given  inter- 
nally, and  copperas-water  both  as  a  wash  and  given 
internally,  will  be  sufficient  to  destroy  these  vermin 
in  every  case. 

"  The  preventive  measures  are,  strict  attention  to 
cleanliness  both  in  the  sties  and  in  the  animals  them- 
selves. Whenever  a  pig  is  observed  to  be  lousy, 
which  will  quickly  be  perceived  by  his  rubbing  him- 
self against  the  gates,  trees,  and  walls,  he  must  be 
immediately  separated  from  his  companions,  or  else 
they  too  will  become  infested  with  lice,  if  they  are 
not  already  so."     (Youatt.) 

Parkinson  is  of  opinion  that  "  the  cause  of  vermin 
infesting  animals  clearly  arises,  in  a  general  way, 
from  bad  feeding,  which  occasions  weakness  of  the 
blood  ;  for,"  says  he,  "  if  an  animal  be  ever  so  lousy, 
by  giving  him  strong  food  for  a  few  days,  the  vermin 
will  disappear,  probably  because  the  rich  blood  is 
poison  to  them."  He  considers  "  that  a  free  access 
to  water  for  bathing,  and  also  occasional  exposure  to 
heavy  rain,  is  not  only  necessary  to  the  general  health 


124  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

of  swine,  but  a  most  excellent  preventive  against 


vermin^ 


These  observations  of  Parkinson  are  clearly  philo- 
sophical and  right.  That  these  vermin  multiply  much 
more  rapidly  in  a  debilitated  state  of  the  system 
there  can  be  no  doubt;  therefore  give  your  hogs 
plenty  of  pure  water  and  wholesome  food,  and  these 
pests  can  not  exist. 

LEPROSY. 

This  disease  has  apparently  existed  in  swine  from 
the  remotest  periods,  and  Tacitus  gives  it  as  his 
opinion  that  it  was  because  the  hog  was  subject  to 
leprosy  that  the  Jews  were  forbidden  to  eat  of  its 
flesh.  It  consists  in  the  development  of  certain 
vesicles  or  whitish  granulations  in  all  parts  and  por- 
tions of  the  cellular  tissue,  which  vesicles  have  been 
proven  to  be  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  species  of 
worms  termed  the  cysticercus  cellulosce,  supposed  by 
some  French  writers  to  be  of  the  same  species  as 
that  found  in  the  brain  of  the  sheep.  There  are, 
however,  considerable  differences  between  the  two. 
The  cysticercus  is  found  in  all  the  cellular  tissue  and 
soft  parts  throughout  the  whole  of  the  body;  in  the 
fat;  in  the  adipose  matter;  in  the  interstices  between 
the  muscles ;  in  the  viscera ;  and,  in  short,  every 
crevice  into  which  they  can  insert  themselves." 


THE  SKIN  AND   ITS  DISEASES.  125 

"  The  thigh  or  ham  has  been  mentioned  by  some 
authors  as  the  principal  seat  of  these  vesicles^  bat 
they  are  also  found  on  the  shoulder,  around  the  jaws, 
along  the  neck  and  belly,  and  even  underneath  and 
around  the  root  of  the  tongue,  where  alone  any  out- 
ward leasion  indicative  of  leprosy  can  be  in  general 
discovered,  and  even  here  they  are  not  constant,  but 
are  chiefly  evident  in  those  animals  in  which  the  dis- 
ease has  attained  to  a  great  height.  The  progress  of 
leprosy  is  very  insidious,  and  the  early  symptoms  so 
little  marked  that  a  practical  eye  only  can  detect 
them." 

The  symptoms  of  this  complaint  usually  commence 
with  the  formation  of  a  small  tumor  in  the  eye,  fol- 
lowed by  general  prostration  of  the  spirits ;  the  head 
is  held  down,  the  whole  frame  inclines  toward  the 
ground,  universal  languor  succeeds,  the  animal  refuses 
food,  languishes,  and  rapidly  falls  away  in  flesh. 
Blisters  soon  make  their  appearance  beneath  the 
tongue,  then  upon  the  throat,  the  jaws,  the  head, 
and  the  entke  body. 

"  The  flesh  of  a  leprous  pig  is  said  to  possess  most 
pernicious  qualities,  and  as  doing  so,  to  be  indepen- 
dent of  our  disgust,  wholly  unfit  for  human  food. 
The  cause  of  this  disease  is  the  want  of  cleanlmess, 
absence  of  fresh  air,  want  of  due  attention  to  venti- 
lation, and  foul  feeding."     (Beatty.) 


126  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

We  have  thus  laid  before  the  reader  the  opinions 
of  two  writers  as  to  the  cause  of  this  loathsome 
affection.  Happily  the  disease  is  of  rare  occurrence; 
indeed,  the  author  is  not  aware  that  a  well  authenti- 
cated case  has  ever  been  seen  in  America ;  but  if  the 
theory  of  Beatty  be  true,  and  is  to  be  received  as  the 
correct  one,  then  surely  no  reason  exists  why  we  may 
not  have  the  disease,  since  the  conditions  mentioned 
by  him  as  producing  it  are  so  often  met  with.  The 
author  inclines  to  the  theory  of  Youatt,  for  the  reason 
already  given,  that  if  a  want  of  proper  cleanliness  and 
want  of  pure  air  and  bad  feeding  were  the  cause  it 
would  be  a  very  common  disease  in  this  country. 
Doubtless  these  things  would  serve  to  aggravate,  but, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  author,  could  not  produce  it. 

Perhaps  the  best  plan  of  treatment,  and  indeed  the 
only  rational  one,  and  so  far  as  the  author  is  in- 
formed the  only  one  known  to  us,  is  proper  attention 
to  cleanliness,  cooling  drinks,  unirritating  food,  etc. 
The  medicines  most  relied  upon  to  effect  a  cure  are 
sulphur,  arsenic,  and  black  sulphuret  of  antimony; 
wash  the  animal  with  soap  and  water,  and  keep  him 
in  a  dry,  clean  sty. 

MANGE. 

Mange  is  a  very  common  affection  among  swine. 
The    opinion  which    prevailed,  that  the   disease  in 


THE    SKIN   AND  ITS  DISEASES.  127 

question  was  caused  by  filth  or  some  impure  state 
of  the  blood,  has  given  place  to  a  more  rational  and 
scientific  solution. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  disease  is  caused 
by  a  certain  minute  insect  called  acari.  "It  is/'  says 
Youatt,  "identical  with  the  scah  in  sheep  and  the  itch 
in  the  human  being."  As  far  back  as  the  twelfth 
century  these  acari  scahii  were  discovered  by  an 
Arabian  physician;  subsequently  they  were  noticed 
and  described  by  several  German  and  Italian  writers; 
and  in  1812  and  1814  Herr  Waltz,  a  German  veter- 
inarian, and  M.  Gohier,  an  eminent  French  veterinary/ 
surgeon,  found  these  insects  in,  and  gave  drawings  of, 
and  described  those  peculiar  to  almost  all  our  domes- 
ticated animals. 

The  microscope  in  modern  times  has  cleared  up  all 
doubts  on  this  question  as  to  the  existence  of  these 
insects,  and  it  has  been  demonstrated  beyond  ques- 
tion that  they  do  produce  mange  in  swine,  scab  in 
sheep,  and  itch  in  the  human  being. 

Youatt  thinks  that  the  hog  is  not  so  liable  to  this 
disease  as  the  sheep,  the  horse,  and  the  dog;  how- 
ever this  may  be,  it  is  certainly  a  very  common 
afi'ection  in  the  hog.  "In  swine,"  he  says,  ^'the  pus- 
tules are  usually  developed  under  the  arm-pits  and  on 
the  interior  of  the  thighs.  They  at  first  consist 
simply  of  red  spots,  vesicles,  or  pimples,  but  these 


128  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

gradually  become  connected  together  by  minute  bur- 
rows or  furrows  existing  beneath  the  skin,  and 
eventually  unite  in  the  form  of  large  scabs,  which 
the  animal,  irritated  by  the  itching,  rubs  into  large 
blotchy  sores." 

When  the  mange  is  recent,  a  pretty  strong  decoction 
of  tobacco  or  digitalis  will  often  prove  an  efficacious 
wash  for  the  diseased  parts.  When,  however,  the 
disease  has  lasted  for  a  long  time,  and  has  baffled  all 
other  remedies,  and  has  degenerated  into  scabs  and 
sores,  a  solution  of  arsenic,  in  the  proportion  of  one 
ounce  to  a  gallon  of  water,  or  perhaps,  what  is  better, 
sulphur  and  mercurial  ointment  in  the  proportion  of 
one  ounce  of  the  former  to  a  drachm  of  the  latter, 
carefully  and  thoroughly  rubbed  together,  and  then 
rubbed  into  the  skin,  must  be  resorted  to.  (Youatt.) 
Soot  boiled  in  water  till  a  strong  decoction  is  made 
has  been  found  very  efficacious.  Creosote  has  also 
been  used.  If  the  animal  is  fat,  cooHng  purgatives 
should  be  given ;  and  for  this  purpose  saline  prn^ga- 
tives  are  the  best.  Two  ounces  of  Epsom  salts  in  a 
warm  bran-mash,  to  be  given  to  a  hog  of  average 
size,  increased  or  diminished  according  to  the  size  of 
the  animal.  The  salts  ought  to  be  previously  dis^ 
solved  in  warm  water  before  mixing  it  with  the  bran- 
mash.  (Beatty.)  He  also  advises  the  following  to 
be  given  in  every  meal  after  purging :     One  table- 


THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  DISEASES.  129 

spoonful  of  flour  of  sulphur,  of  niter  (saltpeter)  as 
much  as  will  cover  a  sixpence  (a  tea-spoonful),  for 
from  three  days  to  a  week.  When  the  fiery  red 
places  disappear,  and  the  scales  fall  off,  and  the 
pustules  are  no  longer  formed,  then  the  disease  has 
given  way,  and  the  remedies  may  be  discontinued. 

The  black  sulpheret  of  antimony  and  the  nitrate  of 
potash — a  half  tea-spoonful  of  the  former,  and  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  the  latter — given  in  the  food  three  times 
a  day  internally,  and  one  of  the  ointments  akeady 
mentioned  rubbed  on  externally,  will  relieve  the 
most  obstinate  case,  provided  proper  care  be  given 
to  cleanliness,  food,  fresh  air,  exercise,  etc.  The  last 
mentioned  are  all  important,  and  no  good  will  result 
from  medicine  where  they  are  neglected.  Though 
the  foregoing  observations  are  strictly  true,  both  as 
to  the  nature  of  the  disease  and  its  treatment,  yet 
something  further  appears  to  the  author  necessary  in 
this  connection  to  make  the  matter  understood  and 
to  render  it  practical,  and  adapt  it  to  the  actual 
condition  of  things  as  they  exist  in  the  southern 
and  western  portions  of  our  own  country.  It  is 
well  known  that  a  large  majority  of  farmers  give 
but  little  attention  to  sties  and  houses  for  their 
hogs ;  the  animal  is  therefore  left  to  his  own  inge- 
nuity, and  whatever  resources  may  be  in  his  reach,  for 
bedding,  shelter,  and  often  for  food  itself.      They 


130  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

geuerally  have  access  to  old,  half-decayed  straw- 
stacks,  and  refuse  from  the  stable  reeking  with 
noxious  gases;  they  bury  themselves  in  these  places, 
become  heated,  the  pores  of  the  skin  closed,  and 
often  a  dark,  tenacious  coating  is  seen  adhering  to 
the  skin,  under  which  these  little  acari  of  which  we 
have  been  speaking  find  a  congenial  soil  and  hiding- 
place,  and  soon  begin  to  manifest  their  presence. 
There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  conditions 
above  stated  give  the  best  possible  condition  for  the 
production  of  the  disease.  Is  it  not  highly  probable 
that  in  these  old  straw-stacks  and  heaps  of  stable 
refuse  these  insects  are  hatched?  And  thus  in  these 
hot-beds  the  disease  is  developed. 

The  author  is  satisfied  that  the  dark  gelatinous 
coating  already  referred  to  has  much  to  do  in  pro- 
tecting the  acari,  and  therefore  strict  attention  should 
be  given  to  its  removal  with  strong  soap  and  warm 
water.  When  this  is  carefully  done,  local  remedies 
such  as  have  already  been  advised  reach  the  disease, 
and  of  course  are  more  efi'ective. 

MEASLES. 

"  This,  although  a  skin  disease,  is  rather  suhcuta- 
neous,  consisting  in  a  multitude  of  small,  watery 
pustules  developed  between  the  fat  and  the  skin,  and 
indeed  scattered  throughout  the  cellular  tissue  and 


THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  DISEASES.  131 

adipose  matter.  It  has  been  regarded  by  some 
writers  as  a  milder  form  of  leprosy,  and  so  far  as  our 
limited  knowledge  will  aUow  us  to  judge,  this  suppo- 
sition appears  by  no  means  an  erroneous  one." 

The  external  appearances  are  reddish  raised 
splotches  or  patches,  more  particularly  seen  in  the 
arm-pits  and  the  inside  of  the  thighs  at  the  first,  and 
afterward  on  other  parts  of  the  body,  or  it  may 
cover  the  entire  surface.  The  symptoms  are  general 
disturbance  of  the  system,  quick  pulse,  heat  of  skin, 
cough,  discharge  from  the  nostrils,  loss  of  appetite, 
nausea  (sick  stomach),  puffiness  or  swelling  of  the 
eyelids,  and  congestion  of  the  blood-vessels  of  the 
eye  itself,  feebleness  of  the  muscles,  particularly  of 
the  hinder  extremities,  and  the  formation  of  blackish 
pustules  under  the  tongue.  Eventually  the  skin 
usually  comes  off  in  patches. 

Beatty  thus  describes  the  disease:  "Eedness  of 
the  eyes,  foulness  of  the  skin,  depression  of  spirits, 
decline  or  total  departure  of  the  appetite,  small  pus- 
tules about  the  throat,  and  red  and  purple  eruptions 
of  the  skin.  These  last  are  more  plainly  visible 
after  death,  when  they  impart  a  peculiar  appearance 
to  the  grain  of  the  meat,  with  fading  of  its  color  and 
distension  of  the  filer  so  as  to  give  an  appearance 
similar  to  that  which  might  be  produced  by  punctur- 
ing the  flesh." 


132  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

It  is  a  question  of  interest  whether  the  disease  in 
swine  is  identical  with  that  in  the  human  being. 
The  features  of  the  two  are  in  some  respects  alike, 
but  very  dissimilar  in  other  important  particulars. 
The  fever,  the  redness  and  puffiness  of  the  eyes,  the 
running  of  the  nose,  etc.,  are  identical,  but  the  erup- 
tion certainly  differs  in  some  essential  items.  But  it 
is  not  our  purpose  to  discuss  this  matter  here,  as 
it  has  perhaps  but  little  practical  bearing  on  the 
matter  in  hand.  It  is  often  a  troublesome  disease  to 
get  rid  of,  and  this  is  particularly  true  if  the  disease 
has  been  badly  managed  in  the  beginning.  This 
affection  is  not  confined  to  any  particular  class  of 
hogs,  but  all  are  alike  liable  to  its  ravages.  Nor  has 
the  condition  of  the  animal  as  to  fat  anything  to  do 
with  it,  since  both  fat  and  poor  hogs  are  the  sub- 
jects of  it. 

The  probability  is  that  the  disease  is  contagious^ 
as  indeed  are  most  of  the  diseases  of  the  skin. 
Beatty  thinks  that  the  disease  is  caused  by  dirt,  com- 
bined with  the  common  fault  too  little  thought  of, 
namely,  giving  the  steamed  food  or  wash  to  the  pigs 
at  too  high  a  temperature.  This  may  be  to  some 
extent  true,  yet  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  this 
could  do  more  than  produce  simple  inflammation  by 
scalding  the  parts  with  which  this  heated  matter  was 
brought  in  contact,  and  in  this  way  redness  and  even 


THE  SKIN  AND  ITS  DISEASES.  133 

ulcers  and  scabs  on  the  skin  might  be  produced.  It 
is  to  be  remembered  that  the  eruption  is  preceded  by 
certain  signs  which  plainly  indicate  constitutional 
disturbance,  such  as  running  of  the  nose,  redness 
and  swelling  of  the  eyes,  and  fever;  then  follows  the 
eruption,  and  then  decline  of  fever,  and  shedding  of 
the  skin  (scarf  skin) — all  these  in  regular  order.  It 
can  not  be  doubted  that  filth  and  other  local  irrita- 
ting surroundings  aggravate  the  disease. 

The  cause  must  be  sought  for  behind  these  mere 
local  matters.  Is  it  a  blood  disease;  or,  as  Youatt 
suggests,  may  it  not  be  hereditary^  or  be  caused  by 
"a  variety  of  the  cysticercusf  These  are  questions 
yet  undetermined,  but  the  author  inclines  to  the 
latter  opinion,  and  believes  that  the  time  will  come 
when  the  microscope  will  demonstrate  its  correctness. 

As  to  the  question  of  the  propriety  of  making 
food  of  the  flesh  of  measly  pigs,  there  ought  to  be 
but  one  answer.  It  ought  never  to  be  done,  as  there 
can  scarcely  he  a  question  that  it  is  unwholesome,  not 
to  say  disgusting,  and  may  he  poisonous.  The  man- 
ner of  determining  this,  as  well  as  other  diseased 
meats,  will  be  treated  of  in  another  part  of  this 
work. 

The  disease  in  question  is  but  seldom  fatal,  and 
can  only  prove  so  when  improperly  treated  and  the 
animal  badly  managed.     By  exposure  to   cold  and 


134  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

dampness,  the  animal  may  contract  some  other  dis- 
ease, as  inflammation  of  the  lungs  or  bowels,  and  be 
carried  off,  but  this  can  only  result  from  inattention 
to  the  actual  wants  of  the  animal  in  a  state  of  disease. 
The  treatment  is  very  simple,  consisting  of  cooling 
drinks,  low  diet,  and  mild  purgatives,  and  some 
simple  remedies  directed  to  the  skin  and  kidneys, 
such  as  Epsom  salts  as  a  purgative,  sulphur  and 
nitrate  of  potash  to  act  upon  the  skin  and  kidneys, 
and  if  the  cough  is  very  distressing,  sal  ammoniac 
{muriate  ammonia)  in  tea-spoonful  doses,  mingled  in 
the  food  (the  muriate  of  ammonia  must  be  finely 
powdered)  three  or  four  times  a  day.  The  following 
receipts  will  show  how  much  of  each  article  is  a  dose : 
Pulverized  muriate  of  ammonia,  one  ounce;  divide 
into  eight  parts;  one  of  these  will  be  a  dose.  This 
article  is  cheap  and  in  no  way  dangerous.  Nitrate  of 
potash,  one  ounce;  flour  of  sulphur,  half  an  ounce; 
divide  into  eight  parts — one  of  these  parts  three 
times  a  day,  in  bran-mash  or  flaxseed-tea.  A  little 
oil  or  grease  of  any  kind  may  be  rubbed  on  the  sores 
or  tender  places,  to  shield  them  and  allay  itching  and 
irritation.  Good,  wholesome  food,  protection  from 
cold  and  damp  places,  pure  water  to  drink,  and  per- 
severance in  the  simple  medicines  suggested,  will 
cure  a  vast  majority  of  cases. 


CHOLERA.  135 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CHOLEEA. 

Difi&cult  to  manage — Very  mysterious — Conflicting  views  concerning 
it — Epidemics — Name  cholera  improperly  applied — Its  fatality — Sup- 
posed loss  by  its  ravages — External  appearances  of  the  disease — 
Symptoms  of  the  disease — Symptoms  numerous — The  premonitory 
symptoms  to  be  particularly  noticed. 

The  disease  now  under  consideration  is  confessedly 
the  most  fatal,  wide-spread,  and  difficult  to  under- 
stand of  all  the  diseases  to  which  the  hog  is  subject. 
Perhaps  no  disease  among  our  domesticated  animals 
has  been  so  terribly  fatal  or  more  difficult  to  manage 
as  hog  cholera — so-called.  Indeed  the  disease  seems 
to  have  been  veiled  in  mystery,  and  the  most  con- 
flicting views  have  been  advanced  at  various  times 
and  by  various  writers  and  observers  in  regard  to  it, 
both  as  to  its  natm^e  and  cause ;  and,  like  the  great 
epidemics  that  have  swept  away  the  human  species 
from  time  to  time  that  even  the  most  scientific  have 
widely  differed  as  to  their  cause,  so  it  is  not  wonder- 
ful that  there  should  be  different  theories  and  specu- 


136  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

lations  in  regard  to  the  great  epidemics  that  have 
swept  away  millions  of  this  lower  order  of  the  animal 
creation.  We  are  not  able  to  trace  the  history  of 
this  disease  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  further  back 
than  the  year  1854,  though  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  disease  existed  long  anterior  to  this 
date,  though  not  so  wide-spread,  and  perhaps  under 
a  different  name.  Certainly  at  no  time  since  1854 
has  there  been  a  time  when  the  disease  was  not  doing 
its  fatal  work  in  some  section  of  our  country. 

As  to  the  name  "  cholera,"  it  is  difficult  to  say  why 
it  should  have  been  so  designated,  since  but  few  of 
the  symptoms  peculiar  to  that  disease  are  present  in 
this.  The  name  is  singularly  inappropriate,  as  but 
few  if  any  of  the  signs  marking  that  disease,  and 
from  which  it  takes  its  name,  in  the  human  subject, 
could  be  affirmed  of  the  disease  of  the  same  name  in 
the  hog;  but  since  this  is  the  name  by  which  it  has 
been  designated  and  by  which  it  is  generally  known, 
the  author  does  not  intend  to  offer  a  different  one. 

From  1856  to  1858  the  excitement  became  general 
throughout  the  country.  Many  farmers  almost  aban- 
doned hog  raising,  while  some  of  the  distillers  pre- 
ferred to  lose  their  slops  rather  than  risk  their  means 
in  the  purchase  of  stock  hogs  to  consume  it,  while 
the  consumers  feared  to  buy  the  pork  for  the  reason 
that  it  might  produce  disease.      During  the  years 


CHOLEKA.  137 

1856  and  1858  the  disease  assumed  the  form  of  a 
wide-spread  epidemic  throughout  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  hog-growing  districts  of  the  United  States.  It 
was  not  confined  to  any  particular  locality  or  any 
particular  class  of  hogs,  but  all  classes  were  alike 
sufferers,  and  many  thousands  perished,  and  the  loss 
to  the  owners  was  enormous. 

A  few  brief  quotations  from  an  able  article  by  Dr. 
Sutton,  of  Dearborn  County,  Indiana,  may  not  be  out 
of  place  as  showing  the  fatahty  and  the  excitement 
consequent  upon  it  in  that  locality  :  "  In  this  sec- 
tion of  country  it  has  been  extremely  fatal.  Over 
portions  of  Dearborn  County  it  spread  from  farm  to 
farm,  and  some  of  our  farmers  lost  from  seventy  to 
eighty  out  of  the  hundred  of  their  hogs.  At  the 
distilleries  the  mortality  has  been  very  severe.  I 
received  information  that  more  than  eleven  thousand 
died  at  the  distillery  in  New  Richmond  in  the  sum- 
mer and  fall  of  1856.  The  owners  of  the  distillery 
at  Aurora  inform  me  that  they  have  lost  between 
six  and  seven  thousand.  A  gentleman  informs  me 
that  he  lost  in  1856,  at  Ingraham's  distillery  in  Cin- 
cinnati, from  the  1st  of  August  to  the  24th  of 
October,  2,408.  Another  gentleman  informs  me  that 
at  the  distillery  in  Petersburg,  Kentucky,  he  lost 
from  the  1st  of  June  up  to  the  18th  of  October,  1856, 

2,576.       It  was  not,  however,  more  fatal  in  the  distil- 

12 


138  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

leries  than  on  the  farms,  in  proportion  to  the  number 
attacked."  * 

As  an  evidence  of  the  extent  to  which  this  disease 
devastated  the  herds  of  swine  in  the  year  1857,  the 
number  of  hogs  reported  in  all  the  places  where  the 
business  of  packing  was  carried  on  in  the  West,  in 
1857,  was    1,818,468,    and   the   previous   year  (or 
1856)  2,489,502,  showing  a  deficiency  in  1857  of 
671,034.     This  deficiency  may  be  in  part  accounted 
for  by  the  shortness  of  the  corn  crop,  but  the  great 
bulk  of  the  deficit  must  be  attributed  to  the  ravages 
of  this  dread  disease.    In  some  of  the  southern  states 
the  disease  was  wide-spread  and  very  fatal,  and  few 
counties  or  even  neighborhoods  in  Kentucky  escaped. 
It  would  be  simply  impossible  to  ascertain  the  pre- 
cise loss  in  this  country,  or  even  a  close  approxima- 
tion to  the  loss,  by  this  great  destroyer  of  the  hog. 
We  believe,  with  Dr.  Snow,  that  the  number  reaches 
not  only  thousands,  but  even  millions.     The  writer 
has  taken  much  pains  to  gather  information  on  this 
interesting  question,  and  the  estimates  of  different 
persons  in  various  parts  of  the  country  have  been 
sought  and  obtained.     These  of  course  do  not  agree, 
as  might  be  expected,  since  in  some  localities  the 
disease  was  more  wide-spread  and  fatal  than  in  others, 
but  none  have  estimated  the  loss  to  be  less  than 
*  Korth  American  Medico-Ohirurgical  Eeview,  May,  1858. 


CHOLERA. 


139 


twenty  per  cent.;  in  many  instances  the  loss  was 
fifty  per  cent.,  and  in  some  places  as  much  as  eighty 
per  cent.  Now,  in  order  to  avoid  exaggerations,  we 
propose  to  put  the  loss  at  twenty-five  per  cent, 
(which  in  fact  is  below  the  actual  loss),  and  put  the 
value  at  five  dollars  per  hog,  which  is  certainly  not 
extravagant,  and  we  have  most  astonishing  results. 
Six  states,  the  most  noted  for  the  number  of  their 
hogs,  are  taken  for  illustration.  These  estimates  as 
to  the  number  raised  by  each  state  are  taken  from 
the  agricultural  report  of  the  Patent  Office  for  the 
year  1867.  The  following  table  will  show  the  re- 
sults, and  to  which  attention  is  now  invited : 


States 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Ohio 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Yirginia 

Total 


No.  Hoss. 


2,555,811 
2,272,640 
2,206,177 
1,884,284 
1,312,556 
1,055,945 


11,287,413 


Loss. 


638,952 
568,160 
551,544 
471,071 
328,139 
266,486 


2,824,352 


Value  $5. 


$3,194,760 
2,840,800 
2,757,720 
2,355,355 
1,640,695 
1,332,430 


$14,121,760 


In  a  more  general  way,  let  us  suppose  that  there 
were,  in  1856,  40,000,000*  hogs;  the  loss  was  say 
one  fifth  by  cholera,  which  would  be  8,000,000.  Let 
us  suppose  them  to  be  worth  seven  dollars  per  head; 
thus  the  loss  would  be  in  one  year  $56,000,000, 
*  Kew  American  Cyclopedia,  Vol.  IX. 


140  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

This   valuation    it    will   scarcely   be    contended    is 
too  high;  indeed  the  valuation  per  head,  in  1865, 
was  $8.55.      The  above  figures  will  serve  to  show 
the  immense  importance  of  hog  culture  in  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  the  tremendous  losses   sustained 
both  to  the  public  and  private  wealth  by  this  terrible 
disease.      But  we  may  even  reduce  the  figures  to 
$20,000,000  loss  per  year  in  the  whole  United  States 
for  a  period  of  ten  years,  and  we  have  the  enormous 
sum  of  $200,000,000 ;  or  even  reduce  it  to  half  the 
above  and  it  is  still  appalling.     To  the  writer  it  is 
simply  astonishing  that  so  little  attention  has  been 
devoted  by  scientific  men  and  legislators  to  the  pro- 
tection of  this  valuable  animal,  from  which  is  de- 
rived the  greater  part  of  the  animal  food  consumed 
by  the  people  of  this  country.      When  the  cattle 
plague  visited  this  country  some  few  years  ago  the 
excitement  ran  high,  and  thousands  of  dollars  were 
voted  by  legislative  bodies  and  expended  in  investi- 
gating and  experimenting  to  determine  the  nature, 
cause,  and  treatment  of  that  dreadful  scourge,  that 
its  ravages  might   be   stayed  and   eradicated   alto- 
gether, and  much  success  attended  these  labors.     It 
was  a  wise  expenditure  of  money  and  time,  as  the 
results  proved.       But  as  yet  little  if  anything  has 
emanated  from  our  learned  legislative  bodies,  either 
state  or  national,  looking  toward  encouragement  to 


CHOLERA.  141 

those  who  might  be  willing  to  investigate  this  dread- 
ful scourge  among  swine. 

The  author  does  not  wish  to  weary  the  reader  by 
any  further  multiplication  of  facts  in  regard  to  the 
importance  of  the  matter  in  hand,  but  would  now 
invite  patient  and  careful  attention  to  the  observa- 
tions and  experiments  to  be  detailed  in  regard  to  the 
nature  and  causes  of  the  disease  in  question.  Unless 
the  reader  can  divest  himself  of  prejudice,  and  is 
willing  to  give  the  matter  a  careful  and  patient  ex- 
amination, all  his  efforts  will  be  of  no  avail.  The 
author  wishes  to  state  in  advance  that  he  lays  no 
claim  to  learning,  but  proposes  simply  to  give  the 
results  of  his  observations  in  a  plain,  common-sense 
way,  avoiding  technical  language  as  much  as  possible. 

Without  further  delay  let  us  consider  the  symp- 
toms or,  as  physicians  say,  the  rational  signs  of  the 
disease.  These  are  numerous,  and  many  of  them 
well  marked,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  all  the 
symptoms  as  herein  mentioned  are  not  found  in 
every  case  of  cholera.  Some  may  be  wanting,  but 
in  the  main  the  symptoms  here  detailed  will  be 
recognized  by  all  who  have  given  the  disease  any 
attention. 

First  of  all  there  may  be  noticed  a  kind  of  lan- 
gour  or  indisposition  to  move.  The  hog  does  not 
manifest  his  usual   energy   and   cheerfulness.      He 


142  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

will  lie  down  most  of  the  time,  and  when  he  does 
move  it  seems  to  be  with  an  effort.  There  is  a  stiff- 
ness and  an  inertness  which  is  quite  observable. 
His  appetite  is  poor;  he  does  not  eat  with  his  accus- 
tomed greediness,  and  finally  refuses  food  altogether. 
His  thirst  is  very  great ;  he  drinks  large  quantities 
of  water,  and  seems  never  satisfied  with  drinking. 
He  may  have  fever;  his  urine  is  scanty  and  high- 
colored  ;  sick  stomach  is  a  common  symptom,  though 
by  no  means  invariable ;  he  may  have  retching  and 
vomiting — sometimes  this  is  quite  distressing — which 
in  most  cases  depends  upon  inflammation  of  the 
stomach.  The  matter  vomited  varies  in  appearance  ; 
it  is  sometimes  simply  mucus,  and  sometimes  mu- 
cus and  bile  mixed,  and  occasionally  the  mucus  is 
mixed  with  blood,  giving  the  appearance  of  brick- 
dust.  If  the  hog  has  eaten  anything,  this  is  throwr? 
up  in  a  sour  state  and  undigested.  Diarrhea  is  a  p 
uncommon  symptom,  though  often  wanting.  Man;; 
hogs  die  of  this  disease  without  either  vomiting  or 
purging.  The  matter  purged  may  be  watery,  dark, 
and  offensive,  or  mucus  and  blood,  resembling  dysen- 
tery or  flux,  attended  with  griping  and  straining,  and 
sometimes  with  protrusion  of  the  large  gut.  There 
is  in  almost  every  case  in  poor  hogs  more  or  less 
cough,  sore  throat,  wheezing,  heaving  of  the  flanks, 
and  difficulty  of  breathing.      The  cough  begins  as  a 


CHOLERA.  143 

mere  hacking  when  they  arise  from  their  beds  in  the 
morning ;  the  cough  increases  day  by  day  till  it  be- 
comes quite  distressing,  accompanied  with  thumps  or 
throbbing  of  the  sides.  The  hog  staggers,  rests  his 
nose  on  the  ground,  and  there  is  frequently  bleeding 
of  the  nose.  Soon  he  lies  down,  and  is  unable  to 
get  up ;  the  breathing  becomes  more  and  more  diffi- 
cult, and  soon  death  closes  the  scene. 

The  skin  is  almost  always  diseased.  There  is  red- 
ness of  the  skin,  heat,  dryness,  and  roughness  of  the 
hair.  There  are  hardened  places  of  variable  sizes, 
ranging  from  the  size  of  a  dime  to  that  of  the  bottom 
of  a  pint  cup,  and  even  larger.  These  hardened  places 
break,  particularly  on  the  legs,  feet,  and  ears,  and 
become  running  sores,  and  are  a  great  source  of 
annoyance,  and  serve  to  debilitate  the  animal.  These 
sores,  particularly  on  the  legs  and  feet,  become 
sloughing  sores,  or,  as  they  are  termed,  gangrenous 
sores,  and  so  great  becomes  the  destruction  that  in 
extreme  cases  the  flesh  drops  off  the  bone,  and  even 
the  feet  rot  off.  Lice  are  frequently  found  in  great 
numbers;  they  burrow  in  the  skin  and  are  a  source 
of  much  irritation  and  discomfort.  Occasionally  the 
appetite  remains  good  and  the  digestion  tolerable, 
and  the  hog  gets  fat,  but  suddenly  he  gets  sick,  has 
cough,  may  vomit  a  few  times,  and  the  owner  is  much 
astonished  to  see  him  tumble  over  and  die.      This 


144  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

usually  results  from  congestion  of  the  lungs.  Fat 
hogs  frequently  die  suddenly  in  the  way  already 
mentioned.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  in 
these  cases  of  sudden  death  of  fat  hogs  the  seeds  of 
the  disease  existed  in  them  previous  to  their  becom- 
ing fat,  but  the  digestive  organs  remained  free  from 
disorder,  and  that  to  the  lungs  we  are  to  look  for  the 
cause  of  the  death. 

The  writer  would  ask  particular  attention  to  the 
'premonitory  signs  of  the  disease,  as  it  is  at  this  stage 
that  treatment  is  most  successful,  and  not  only  is 
this  true,  but  it  is  equally  important  to  the  purchaser 
of  stock  hogs  to  make  himself  familiar  with  the  very 
earliest  symptoms  of  the  disease,  as  it  will  save  him 
from  much  loss  and  trouble.  Long  before  the  most 
destructive  and  severe  symptoms  set  in,  the  signs 
already  detailed  are  present.  At  the  risk  of  appear- 
ing tedious,  the  following  synopsis  of  these  early 
symptoms  are  again  repeated.  They  are  :  First, 
languor,  dullness;  second,  failure  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  of  the  appetite ;  third,  great  thii'st  ; 
fourth,  scant,  high-colored  urine;  fifth,  cough  on 
rising  out  of  their  beds ;  sixth,  hanging  of  the  ears 
and  resting  the  nose  on  the  ground;  seventh,  dryness 
and  redness  of  the  skin. 

These  symptoms  may  be  noticed  by  the  careful  ob 
server  for  a  considerable  time  before  those  of  a  moro 


CHOLERA.  145 

violent  kind  come  on,  and  when  present  should  warn 
the  owner  or  purchaser  that  very  soon  the  graver 
symptoms  will  appear,  unless  proper  means  are  at 
once  employed  to  arrest  the  disease. 

13 


146  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


CHAPTER    X. 

POST-MORTEM  APPEARANCES. 

The  heart — Windpipe — Lungs — Liver — Gall-bladder — Stomach — Bowels 
— Kidneys  and  bladder. 

Being  only  a  plain  farmer,  the  writer  can  not  of 
course  be  expected  to  go  minutely  into  a  description 
of  the  diseased  organs,  but  simply  to  relate  in  a  plain, 
concise  way  the  changed  appearances  as  they  pre- 
sented themselves  to  him  in  numerous  bodies  ex- 
amined, and  a  comparison  of  the  observations  of 
others  with  his  own.  These  examinations  embrace 
all  the  important  organs  of  the  body,  particularly  the 
lungs,  the  heart,  stomach,  bowels,  liver,  and  bladder. 

theheart. 

As  this  is  the  great  organ  of  the  circulation,  it  is 
chosen  for  the  beginning.  This  organ  sometimes, 
nay,  often  presents  evidence  of  disease.  It  may  be 
enlarged  or  shriveled  and  smaller  than  the  natural 
size.  Its  substance  is  sometimes  in  a  state  of  soften- 
ing, and  it  is  paler  than  natural,  or  it  may  be  in  some 


POST-MORTEM   APPEARANCES.  147 

cases  much  darker.  The  sac  surroundmg  the  heart 
— the  idericardium — is  frequently  filled  with  a  fluid, 
or  from  an  inflammatory  condition  of  this  sac  may 
be  adherent  at  some  point.  In  either  case  the  heart's 
action  is  perverted.  There  is  found  in  some  cases  a 
blood  clot  in  the  cavities  of  the  heart,  or  it  may  be  a 
tough,  fibrinous  tumor, 

WINDPIPE     AND     LUNGS. 

It  may  be  truly  said  that  these  organs  are  always 
found  diseased  in  hog  cholera,  certainly  in  every  case 
examined  by  the  writer  j  indeed,  the  air  passages 
throughout  present  evidences  of  inflammation.  There 
are  in  many  cases  ulcers  on  the  nasal  mucous  mem- 
brane^ and  in  nearly  if  not  all  there  is  inflammation 
of  this  membrane.  The  natural  pink  color  of  the 
nasal  membrane  is  changed  to  a  purplish  or  red; 
sometimes  this  redness  is  intense.  The  membrane  is 
thickened  and  covered  with  dry  ulcers,  or  it  throws 
off  a  glary^  tough  mucus,  sometimes  mixed  with  pus. 
The  upper  part  of  the  throat  and  the  larynx  (upper 
part  of  the  windpipe)  is  generally  much  inflamed, 
and  the  mucous  membrane  thickened  and  ulcerated, 
which  accounts  for  the  loss  of  voice  so  frequently 
noticed.  This  membrane  is  sometimes  so  much  dis- 
organized that  it  may  be  easily  torn  with  the  finger 
nail. 


148  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

It  is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  see  in  the  larynx 
and  windpipe  large  numbers  of  thread-like  worms — 
some  white,  others  reddish  in  color.  The  writer  ob- 
tained the  aid  of  a  microscope,  and  by  the  kindness 
of  two  of  his  scientific  friends  *  it  was  clearly 
demonstrated  that  these  worms  were  none  other 
than  the  trichina  spiralis.  (This  matter  will  be 
treated  of  in  another  place  more  fully.) 

The  windpipe  is  always  inflamed,  presenting  much 
the  appearance  of  the  larynx. 

The  lungs  present  the  most  astonishing  amount  of 
disease,  and  evidences  of  inflammation  and  other 
changes  are  found  in  every  case.  There  has  been  no 
case  examined  by  the  writer  or  any  one  else  who  has 
written  upon  the  subject,  or  with  whom  he  has  com- 
municated, that  does  not  bear  testimony  to  this 
point.  Both  lungs  are  generally  diseased,  though  one 
lung  generally  more  than  the  other.  The  left  lung 
is  oftenest  the  seat  of  disease. 

First  of  all,  on  opening  the  chest,  it  will  generaUy 
be  found  that  the  pleura  (investing  membrane)  is 
adherent  to  the  lung,  and  requires  some  force  to 
break  them  apart j  or  the  adhesion  may  be  to  the 
ribs.  This  indicates  that  there  has  existed  inflam- 
mation of  this  memhraney  by  which  means  the  adhe- 
sions were  produced.  There  is  also  an  enlarged 
*  Dr.  Thomas  E.  Jenkins  and  Professor  J.  L.  Smith. 


POST-MORTEM    APPEARANCES.  149 

appearance  of  the  lungs — not  collapsedj  as  is  the 
case  in  a  healthy  state  of  the  organ  after  death. 
Upon  making  pressure  with  the  finger  the  lung  is 
found  to  present  a  solid  feehng  to  the  finger,  and 
there  is  not  that  elasticity  of  healthy  lung  structure. 
A  lumpy,  hardened  feeling  will  be  observed.  These 
tumors  or  lumps  are  of  various  sizes.  The  air-cells 
and  bronchial  tubes  are  filled  with  bloody  mucus 
and  pus. 

Now  if  an  incision  be  made  through  the  substance 
of  the  lung,  numerous  tuhercles  and  small  abscesses 
are  cut  through.  These  abscesses  contain  a  yellowish 
matter,  and  in  some  of  them  a  cheese-like  substance 
is  seen.  Parts  and  sometimes  the  whole  of  one 
lung  is  found  liepatized  (liver-like.)  This  hepatked 
part  will  not,  like  healthy  lung,  float  on  water. 
These  Httle  abscesses  sometimes  contain  a  dark  and 
exceedingly  ofi'ensive  material. 

If  the  animal  should  five  for  a  short  time  longer, 
the  hepaiized  portion  becomes  softened,  and  is  expec- 
torated, and  a  cavity  is  left.  The  author  pretends 
not  to  be  a  competent  judge,  but  he  believes  he  has 
repeatedly  seen  tubercular  matter  in  the  substance 
of  the  lungs.  This  tubercular  matter  is  in  various 
stages  of  development,  from  the  exceedingly  small 
bodies  of  the  size  of  millet-seed  to  that  of  an  ounce 
ball;  some   of  them  hard,  and   some  in  a  softened 


150  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

state,  cheese-like  in  consistencej  and  even  soft,  as 
thick  jpus  or  matter. 

THE    LIVER. 

This  organ  is  often  though  not  always  diseased, 
nor  does  it  present  the  same  diseased  appearance  in 
every  case.  The  organ  may  be  shriveled,  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  increased  in  size.  It  sometimes  presents 
to  the  eye  a  lighter  hue  than  in  health.  In  some 
cases  its  surface  presents  an  uneven,  hardened, 
lumpy  appearance,  and  when  cut  sacs  or  c?/sts  are 
observed,  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  a  hen's 
egg  or  even  larger.  These  sacs  are  filled  with  a 
fluid,  clear  like  water;  these  are  usually  near  the 
surface  of  the  organ.  Others  are  found  more  deeply, 
and  contain  a  yellowish  substance  somewhat  heavier 
than  water.  In  some  cases  there  are  abscesses  of 
various  sizes  seen,  containing  ]9us,  which  is  some- 
times thick  and  yellow  or  brownish,  and  sometimes 
of  lisfhter  color  and  thinner.  The  structure  or  sub- 
stance  of  the  liver  presents  a  coarse,  granular  ap- 
pearance, with  a  pale,  striped,  grizzly  look.  These 
stripes  are  not  confined  to  the  surface,  but  run 
through  the  substance  of  the  organ. 

The  gall-bladder  is  filled  to  bursting  in  some  cases ; 
in  others  almost  empty.  The  bile  in  some  cases  is 
thick,  almost  like  tar  in  consistence. 


POST-MORTEM  APPEARANCES.  151 

THE    STOMACH. 

This  organ  is,  as  before  stated,  frequently  in  a 
state  of  inflammation,  and  the  mucous  membrane  soft- 
ened. The  color  may  be  a  light  red,  or  very  dark 
red  or  purplish  hue.  In  many  cases,  however, 
the  writer  found  the  stomach  perfectly  healthy  in 
appearance. 

THE    BOWELS. 

The  bowels,  though  by  no  means  as  frequently 
affected  as  some  of  the  organs  already  described,  are 
sometimes  the  site  of  serious  inflammation  through- 
out their  whole  length,  and  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
produce  softening  and  ulcers.  In  some  cases  the 
inflammation  spends  its  force  upon  one  or  other  sec- 
tion of  the  organ.  The  seat  of  the  inflammation 
may  be  confined  to  the  large  gut,  in  the  saes  of  which 
is  found  a  yeUow,  jelly-like  substance  which  seems  to 
adhere  with  considerable  tenacity  to  the  mucous  mem- 
Irane^  but  which  may  be  scraped  off;  this  is  also 
sometimes  seen  in  the  stomach.  When  ulcers  are 
seen,  they  are  usually  (though  not  confined  to  that 
section  of  the  bowels)  in  the  small  bowel.  When 
inflammation  does  not  exist,  the  sacs  of  the  large 
bowel  are  fiUed  with  dry  dung.  The  membrane  that 
holds    the    bowels    in    place     (the   peritoneum)    is 


162  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

frequently  found  in  an  inflamed  state,  and  adherent 
to  the  bowels.  The  peritoneum  is  often  found  stud- 
ded with  tubercles  in  various  stages  of  development. 
The  small  bowels  contain  the  yellow,  tenacious  mucus 
before  mentioned,  and  in  addition  large  numbers  of 
worms,  either  the  common  lumbricoid  or  the  tape- 
worm. The  tape-worm  may  be  found  with  his  head 
buried  in  the  walls  of  the  bowel,  and  when  pulled 
away  leaves  a  sore  as  large  as  the  thumb  nail.  Un- 
digested food  is  frequently  found  in  both  the  small 
and  large  intestines.  Pus  is  also  seen  mixed  with 
mucus,  and  a  frothy  material,  the  nature  of  which  is 
not  known  to  the  writer.  In  many  hogs  that  have 
died  from  cholera  no  disease  whatever  is  found  either 
in  the  stomach  or  bowels.  When  this  is  the  case  the 
bowels  are  constipated.  But  in  those  cases  in  which 
the  bowels  are  inflamed,  and  in  the  condition  already 
described,  the  animal  has  diarrhea  or  dysentery^  at- 
tended with  straining  and  protrusion  of  the  gut. 

THE    KIDNEYS. 

Though  not  so  frequently  found  in  a  diseased  state, 
yet  they  have  in  some  cases  presented  very  marked 
changes,  and  it  may  be  pecuhar  diseased  appearance. 
This  change  was  presented  in  the  form  of  masses 
having  a  reddish  cast  and  a  fatty  feel,  and  the  organ 
itself  being  paler  than  natural.     In  other  cases  there 


POST-MORTEM  APPEARANCES.  153 

was  a  jelly-like  substance,  resembling  clotted  blood, 
surrounding  the  organs.  These  unnatural  growths 
were  filled  with  sores  and  pus  or  matter.  On  cutting 
the  kidneys  open  worms  were  found,  but  this  is  not  at 
all  uncommon,  and  is  therefore  not  peculiar  to  this  dis- 
ease. The  urine  is  frequently  changed  in  appearance 
from  the  healthy  character.  It  frequently  contains 
pus  and  mucus  and  other  material.  When  the  urine 
becomes  clear  the  case  generally  terminates  favorably. 

THE    BLADDER, 

Like  the  kidneys,  is  often  found  diseased,  but  is  in 
many  cases,  like  the  stomach  and  bowels,  perfectly 
healthy.  In  those  cases  where  disease  is  found  it 
is  on  the  inside,  and  particularly  at  the  neck  of  the 
organ,  but  the  walls  are  sometimes  greatly  thickened, 
as  the  result  of  inflammation.  This  inflamed  surface 
may  be  the  site  of  ulcers  from  which  p)us  is  secreted 
or  formed.  As  before  stated,  the  urine  in  these  cases 
is  mixed  with  matter,  and  a  whitish  substance  sup- 
posed to  be  albumen  and  mucus.  The  organ  is  some- 
times elongated,  presenting  the  appearance  of  a  long, 
narrow  sac,  of  not  more  than  half  its  natural  diame- 
ter, and  sometimes  firmly  adhering  to  the  peritoneum 
or  lining  membrane  of  the  belly,  where  it  covers  the 
bladder  and  c2/sts  containing  a  fluid,  and  sacs  con- 
taining pus  were  found  surrounding  it. 


164  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

REPOET  OF  PHYSICIANS  OF  COLES  COUNTY,  ILL. 

Report  of  Dr.  W.  M.  Allen,  of  Jefferson  County,  Kentucky — Views  of 
Dr.  Sutton,  of  Indiana — Mr.  Higgins,  of  Maryland. 

The  following  cases  were  examined  in  the  presence 
of  the  physicians  whose  names  are  appended,  and  the 
notes  were  taken  by  them  and  are  strictly  correct. 
It  will  be  perceived  that  these  examinations  were 
made  in  Coles  County,  Illinois,  where  the  cholera 
was  raging  at  that  time,  and  carried  off  great  num- 
bers of  hogs. 

Following  these  cases,  we  call  attention  to  the 
reports  of  Dr.  AUen,  of  Jefferson  County,  Kentucky, 
and  particularly  to  the  case  to  which  we  have  before 
referred,  as  one  illustrating  the  chronic  form  of  this 
disease.  This  case  is  interesting,  and  shows  how 
the  disease  may  be  propagated,  and  a  debilitated, 
diseased  offspring  produced. 

This  important  matter  is  only  alluded  to  in  this 
place,  as  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  author  to  give 
particular  attention  to  it  in  a   different  connection. 


REPOET    OF  PHYSICIANS  OF  COLES  COUNTY,  ILL.      155 

Particular  attention  is  therefore  called  to  the  report 
of  Dr.  Allen,  that  the  reader  may  better  understand 
the  reasons  that  have  led  to  certain  conclusions. 

REPORT  OF  ILLINOIS  PHYSICIANS. 

"The  following  is  a  brief  report  of  post-mortem 
examinations  held  on  hogs  affected  with  the  disease 
called  cholera,  at  Milton,  Coles  Co.,  111.,  May,  1867  : 

"Case  No.  1. — Heart  and  Membrane. — The  peri- 
cardium  contained  from  two  to  three  ounces  of  serum. 
The  heart  flaccid,  walls  thinned,  endocardium  rather 
palhd. 

''Lungs. — The  right  lung  adherent  to  the  ribs; 
both  lungs  hepatized  in  lower  portion,  infiltrated  with 
purulent  matter,  interspersed  with  small,  thread-like 
worms  from  one  to  two  inches  in  length.  Upper  por- 
tion of  lung  engorged  with  bloody,  muco-serous  fluid. 
The  mucous  membrane  of  the  oesophagus  florid.  The 
trachce  and  bronchial  tubes  filled  with  frothy  serum, 
mingled  with  mucus  ;  urinary  bladder  inflamed,  coats 
thickened,  and  of  a  pale  yellow  or  buff  color.  The 
neck  of  the  bladder  highly  inflamed. 

''Stomach  inflamed,  containing  a  number  of  worms 
similar  to  those  in  the  lungs. 

"  The  fceces  in  the  rectum  hard  and  dry.  The  small 
intestines  filled  with  fluid  and  vitiated  bile. 

"Case  No.  2. — In  this  case  the  lungs  were  engorged 


156  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

with  bloody  serum,  hepatized,  dotted  thickly  with  in- 
durated or  tumor-like  substances,  resembling  coagu- 
lated blood.  Bile  filling  all  the  liliary  ducts  of  the 
liver.  Stomach  highly  vascidar,  lined  internally  with 
a  substance  spread  over  the  mucous  membrane,  re- 
sembling vitiated  bile. 

"  The  abdominal  viscera,  especially  the  rectum  and 
colon,  adherent  to  an  apparently  adventitious  substance 
surrounding  the  kidneys,  which  was  a  diseased  mass 
of  mottled  and  various  appearance,  interspersed  with 
tuberculous  deposits,  and  would  weigh  from  one  to  two 
pounds. 

"  Case  No  3. — Heart  normal.  Mucous  membrane  of 
trachce  filled  with  frothy  and  somewhat  bloody  mucus, 
in  which  were  some  of  the  small,  thread-like  worms. 
Lungs  Jiepatized  to  some  extent.  There  were  many 
of  the  same  worms  in  the  bronchia.  The  liver  was 
normal.  The  gall-bladder  was  filled  with  thick 
gelatinous,  tar-like  bile.  The  spleen  atrophied  in  right- 
hand  portion.  The  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach 
was  in  part  reddened,  and  the  rest  pale  and  corru- 
gated in  large,  worm-like  folds.  The  small  intestines 
were  engorged  with  lumbricoid  worms,  which  were  in 
turn  filled  with  small  worms  of  the  same  species. 

"Case  No.  4. — In  this  case  the  lungs  presented  a 
dark,  mottled  appearance,  engorged  with  dark-colored 
blood,    showing    congestion   of  these  organs.      The 


REPORT  OF  PHYSICIANS  OF  COLES  COUNTY,  ILL.       157 

stomach  highly  vascular ;  the  trachce  filled  with  a 
frothy,  bloody,  muco-serous  fluid;  the  hver  contained 
a  number  of  tiihercles.  All  the  hogs  examined  had 
tubercles  in  various  organs — ^lungs,  liver,  kidneys, 
etc. — ^in  various  stages  of  development. 

^^External  Apioearances. — The  animals  affected  pre- 
sented a  very  red  appearance  of  the  skin,  especially 
about  the  throat,  and  general  emaciation.  They  were 
affected  by  cough,  wheezing,  difficult  breathing,  and 
had  but  little  appetite  for  food. 

"  In  the  first  case  examined  the  lungs  were  filled 
with  tubercular  deposits,  some  of  which  were  in  a 
state  of  suppuration,  which  last  contained  the  small, 
thread-hke  worms.  The  hogs  examined  were  affected 
with  cholera,  which  is  very  prevalent  here. 

''We,  the  undersigned,  practicing  physicians  of 
Milton,  Coles  County,  Illinois,  hereby  certify  the 
above  to  be  an  abstract  of  the  notes  taken  at  the 
examination  of  cholera  hogs  held  by  James  A. 
Heasor,  assisted  by  us,  in  which  we  have  described 
the  appearances  presented  as  nearly  as  we  could  with 
the  appliances  at  hand.  We  regret  that  we  had  not 
a  glass  of  sufficient  power  to  show  the  appearances 
more  minutely.  H.  L.  Stewart,  M.  D., 

Chas.  M.  Odell,  M.  D., 
Geo.  W.  Brewer,  M.D., 
Thos.  M'Commuck,  M.  D." 


158  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

The  following  is  a  description  from  memory  of  a 
post-mortem  examination  of  a  fine  young  Chester 
boar  that  was  affected,  to  all  appearances,  precisely 
as  many  others  were,  of  which  no  examinations  were 
made. 

"  Refusal  of  food ;  short  and  difficult  respiration^ 
with  every  indication  of  a  pleuritic  stich ;  great  pros- 
tration, with  a  disposition  to  lay  on  the  belly,  with 
the  feet  drawn  under.  The  skin  on  the  chest  and 
belly  red.  Some  shivering.  The  breathing  rapidly 
became  more  difficult  and  labored  till  he  died,  which 
was  about  fifty  or  more  hours  after  the  attack  was 
noticed. 

"  Upon  examination,  twenty-four  hours  after  death, 
found  the  bowels  healthy;  peritoneum  healthy;  nothing 
the  matter  with  the  viscera  below  the  diaphragm.  The 
pleural  sacs  full  of  water,  and  great  inflammation  of 
the  pleural  membranes,  with  shreds  of  false  mem- 
branous attachments.  The  pericardium  full  of  water, 
and  that  membrane  in  the  same  condition  as  the 
pleural.  The  heart  shriveled  and  small.  The  right 
lung  completely  hepatized,  whilst  the  left  was  con- 
siderably so.  The  large  bronchial  tubes  full  of  tough 
mucus  of  a  brick-dust  color,  with  some  froth,  etc. 

"  The  windpipe  looked  healthy,  but  was  pretty 
well  filled  with  tough,  white  mucus.  It  was  clearly 
a  case  of  pleuro-pneumonia  with  pericarditis. 


REPORT  OF  DR.  ALLEN,  OF  JEFFERSON  COUNTY,  KY.  159 


"  The  affected  hogs  had  been  kept  separated  from 
the  other  hogs,  and  this  one  was  taken  from  the  lot 
as  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  that  he  was  sick.  It 
was  the  second  attack  that  he  had  had,  the  first  time 
only  slightly.  This  attack  followed  a  cold,  wet  spell 
of  weather,  in  which  their  bed  became  muddy,  and 
in  which  they  persisted  in  sleeping. 

W.  M.  Allen,  M.  D." 

The  following  is  a  report  of  the  appearance  of  the 
body  of  a  hog  upon  examination  made  by  Dr.  Allen, 
in  our  presence,  and  written  out  at  our  request. 

This  hog  had  what  is  usually  termed  hog  cholera 
last  autumn,  about  the  last  of  September  (1866),  and 
was,  like  many  others  that  had  it,  inclined  to  be 
shy,  keeping  away,  so  that  there  was  no  very  good 
opportunity  of  observing  the  disease. 

The  first  thing  noticed  was  a  refusal  of  food, 
standing  aloof  from  the  others  at  feeding-time,  finally 
refusing  to  come  up  at  all,  but  remaining  hid  in  the 
briars  and  weeds.  He  walked  with  his  legs  drawn 
under,  and  stepped  very  short,  as  if  the  abdomen  was 
very  tender.  He  remained  in  this  condition  nearly 
two  weeks,  when  he  gradually  recovered. 

I  did  not  at  any  time  observe  with  this  hog  or  the 
others  any  purging  or  vomiting;  but,  to  the  contrary, 
the  evacuations  were  healthy.     This  hog  was  turned 


160  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

into  the  corn-field  with  the  fatting  hogs,  and  seemed 
quite  well,  eating  heartily,  but  never  became  fat 
enough  to  butcher,  and  was  turned  out  with  the  sows 
and  pigs  to  winter.  This  spring  he  became  lame  with 
enlarged  hock-joints,  and  the  testicles  very  much 
enlarged;  also  bumps  nearly  as  large  as  an  egg 
appeared  upon  his  body;  and  though  he  ate  freely, 
yet  he  got  very  poor. 

When  castrated  the  scrotum  was  found  to  contain 
a  large  quantity  of  inspissated  pus,  and  the  testes 
were  firmly  adhered  to  the  surrounding  tunic.  He 
was  killed  on  the  15th  of  May,  and  the  body  exam- 
ined on  the  16th.  In  cutting  through  the  skin  the 
first  thing  noticed  was  the  escape  of  pus  from  a  vein, 
mixed  with  blood.  The  bladder  was  found  firmly 
adhered  to  the  peritoneum  anteriorly,  and  surrounded 
with  ci/sts  or  sacs  of  pus  of  cheesy  consistence.  It 
was  also  very  much  elongated  and  thickened,  pre- 
senting a  long,  narrow  sac  of  not  more  than  half  its 
natural  diameter. 

The  omentum  (that  membranous  curtain  that  hangs 
down  over  the  bowels,  and  which  is  a  continuation  or 
loose  end  of  that  delicate  membrane  which  fines  the 
inside  of  the  belly,  and  is  reflected  over  and  con- 
stitutes the  outside  covering  of  the  bowels,  called 
peritoneum)  was  found  stuffed  between  the  stomach 
and  the  bowels,  and  firmly  adhered. 


REPORT  OF  DR.  ALLEN,  OF  JEFFERSON  COUNTY,  KY.     161 

The  bowels  generally  healthy,  except  some  adhe- 
sion posteriorly.  The  right  kidney  surrounded  with 
jms,  the  left  one  healthy. 

The  stomach,  except  about  one  third  of  the  mucous 
memhrane^  which  was  of  a  brov/n,  dirty  color,  with  a 
patch  of  the  memhrane  an  inch  or  more  in  length, 
entirely  destroyed  as  if  by  violence,  there  being  no 
appearance  of  suppuration  or  pus  in  the  stomach  any- 
where, nor  any  unusual  thickening  of  its  coats. 

The  liver  was  found  to  be  of  natural  size,  but 
indurated  (hardened),  and  the  lower  half  of  an  ashy 
gray  color  upon  being  cut,  while  the  upper  part  was 
full  of  tuherdes. 

The  pleurce  (those  memhranes  which  line  the  inside 
of  the  chest,  and  which  are  reflected  over  on  the 
lungs  on  the  outside,  thus  forming  a  sac  on  each 
side)  adhered  in  several  places  on  each  side,  re- 
quiring considerable  force  to  sever  the  attachments, 
indicating  the  previous  existence  of  great  inflam- 
mation. 

The  lungs  generally  healthy,  save  an  unusual  red- 
ness of  the  outside  or  pleural  covering.  The  wind- 
pipe healthy.  The  heart  and  its  appendages  healthy. 
No  worms  found  in  either  the  bowels  or  lungs,  as  is 
not  unfrequently  the  case.  The  blood  coagulated. 
No  examination  was  made  of  the  brain.  The  hock- 
joints  surrounded  with  sacs  of  pus  too  thick  to  dis- 

14 


162  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

charge  without  pressure  when  cut.  Lumps  of  the 
same  on  his  sides. 

This  case  was  primarily  one  of  'peritonitis^  involv- 
ing the  bladder  also,  and  pleuritis,  or  inflammation 
of  those  membranes  just  described.  How  much  the 
lungs  may  have  been  involved  we  can  not  tell,  as 
recovery  from  pneumonia  may  be  so  complete  as  to 
leave  no  traces  behind  it.  We  think  that  in  the 
majority  of  cases  there  is  pneumonia;  especially  is 
this  true  in  those  cases  that  die  suddenly.  We  are 
of  opinion  that  when  the  attack  has  been  severe  in 
the  outset,  the  hog  rarely  if  ever  entirely  recovers, 
but  that  sooner  or  later  (sometimes  months)  local 
inflammation  and  suppuration  appear,  sometimes  ai>- 
tacking  one  organ  and  sometimes  another,  generally 
the  joints  and  feet;  sometimes  the  feet  slough  off. 

It  not  unfrequently  occurs  that  in  butchering  we 
find  lumps  or  ct/sts  of  pus  in  the  muscles^  or  in  the 
liver  or  lungs,  or  in  one  or  all  of  them  at  the  same 
time.  These  c^sts  are  often  very  large,  and  the  pus 
is  of  a  cheesy  consistence,  and  manifests  very  little 
disposition  to  point  to  the  surface  and  discharge. 
This  pus  is  taken  into  the  circulation  by  absorption, 
producing  that  poisoned  condition  of  the  system 
known  among  medical  men  as  pycemia.  Hogs  in  this 
condition  can  never,  in  our  opinion,  be  considered  fit 
for  food. 


POST-MORTEM  APPEARANCE.  163 

If  this  disease  continues  to  spread  through  the 
hog-producing  districts  of  the  country,  the  farmer 
will  be  compelled  to  look  to  some  more  reliable  source 
of  revenue,  and  the  community  to  a  more  wholesome 
article  of  food. 

Before  leaving  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  is  but 
just  and  proper  to  give  the  views  of  several  able 
writers. 

Mr.  J.  Higgins,  State  Chemist  of  Maryland,  who 
has  carefully  investigated  the  disease,  describes  the 
symptoms  as  lassitude,  loss  of  appetite,  hoarseness  or 
husky  grunt  approaching  to  a  cough,  slight  diarrhea, 
yellowish  urine,  paralysis  of  hind  legs  or  small  of  the 
back,  tottering  gait,  and  speedy  death. 

Dr.  Sutton,  of  Aurora,  Ind.,  gives  a  more  detailed 
account  of  the  symptoms,  which  may  be  summed  up 
as  follows :  Debility,  drooping  of  the  head,  and 
soon  after  diarrhea,  the  discharges  being  yellow  when 
the  animal  was  fed  slop,  and  dark-colored  when  corn 
constituted  the  chief  food.  Frequently  there  was 
vomiting;  sometimes  bloody  evacuations,  with  tenes- 
7nus  resembling  dysentery.  In  some  cases  there  was 
cough  and  difficult  breathing ;  in  others,  inflammation 
of  the  throat;  loss  of  voice;  swelHng  of  the  tongue; 
bleeding  from  the  nose,  which  might  be  swelled; 
swelling  and  inflammation  of  the  legs,  eyes,  ears,  or 
some  other  parts  of  the  surface.     Some  times  there 


164  4:reatise  on  the  hog. 

were  gangrenous  spots  on  the  legs,  belly,  sides,  etc. 
Some  became  delirious^  others  blind,  and  nearly  all 
attacked  died  in  from  two  to  five  days.  "These 
symptoms,"  says  Dr.  Sutton,  "were  combined  in 
almost  every  variety." 

Mr.  Higgins  found  in  the  cases  examined  by  him 
an  apparently  healthy  condition  of  all  the  organs  ex- 
cept the  lungs  and  bronchial  tiiheSy  and  these  were 
affected  in  different  degrees  by  inflammation  from 
simple  engorgement  to  complete  destruction  of  the 
lung  tissue.  He  did  not  find  any  well-defined  ab- 
scesses in  any  of  the  lungs.  The  left  upper  lung, 
according  to  his  observation,  was  generally  the  most 
affected  of  the  two.  He  examined  the  blood  of 
healthy  pigs  and  that  of  those  about  to  die  of  this 
disease,  and  found  the  proportion  of  fibrin  in  the 
healthy  as  2.33  to  1000,  and  the  diseased  5.60  to 
1000,  with  a  larger  but  less  firm  and  brighter  clot 
than  in  healthy  blood. 

Dr.  Sutton  examined  forty-seven  hogs  that  died 
of  this  disease,  and  found  no  two  precisely  alike. 
He  found  in  all  a  diffusive  form  of  inflammation  in 
some  organ  or  tissue,  seemingly  of  the  erysipelatous 
kind.  In  different  cases  this  inflammation  was  found 
upon  the  skin  and  subjacent  tissues,  which  were  of  a 
dark  purple  color,  and  infiltrated  with  serum.  In  most 
of  his  cases  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach  was 


POST-MORTEM  APPEARANCE.  165 

inflamed,  bright  red,  and  tumefied.  Blood  was  some- 
times found  in  the  stomach,  which  was  occasionally 
filled  with  it.  If  there  had  been  diarrhea  or  dysen- 
tery, the  intestines  were  more  or  less  marked  by  in- 
flammatory action  in  various  parts  in  different  cases. 
Sometimes  the  bladder  participated  in  the  inflamma- 
tory condition,  and  blood  was  occasionally  found 
effused  into  it.  In  eighteen  cases  the  peritoneimi  was 
inflamed,  and  in  some  of  them  adhesion  between  the 
different  contiguous  loeritoneal  surfaces  had  taken 
place.  To  quote  his  language :  "  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  I  found  the  liver,  the  lungs,  the  fleuro.^  the  feri- 
toneum,  the  mucous  memhrane  of  the  hronchia,  the 
trachea  and  larynx^  all  at  different  times  bearing- 
marks  of  inflammation ;  frequently  one  or  both  were 
engorged  or  hepatized^  and  adhering  to  the  ribs." 

Other  observers  corroborate  the  observations  here 
mentioned,  and  some  give  the  additional  fact  that  in 
their  cases  large  numbers  of  intestinal  worms,  resem- 
Ming  the  ascarides  or  the  lumhricoids,  were  found  in  the 
small  intestines,  not  far  from  its  connection  with  the 
stomach,  and  in  some  of  such  cases,  if  they  did  not 
cause,  they  at  least  greatly  added  to  the  inflamma- 
tory condition. 

The  above  quotations  have  been  taken  from  the 
Agricultural  Report  of  Indiana. 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  observations  coincide 


166  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

with  our  own  in  most  particulars,  and  certainly  in 
the  essential  points. 

We  call  the  reader's  particular  attention  to  one 
point  in  the  statements  of  Dr.  Sutton  and  Mr. 
Higgins;  viz.,  that  in  nearly  all  the  cases  examined 
by  them  they  found  inflammation,  or  evidences  of  it. 
in  the  air  passages  and  in  the  lungs.  We  have  not, 
in  a  single  case  now  remembered,  or  of  which  we 
have  notes,  seen  a  case  in  which  there  was  not  either 
simple  inflammation,  engorgement,  or  hepatization. 
We  venture  the  assertion  that  there  can  not  be  a  case 
found  after  death  in  which  the  windpipe,  larynx, 
bronchial  tubes,  or  the  lungs  are  not  diseased. 

We  hope  these  facts  will  be  kept  in  memory,  for 
they  point,  it  seems  to  us,  unerringly  to  the  cause 
of  the  disease  attempted  to  be  established  in  these 
pages. 

The  author  would  say,  before  concluding  this 
chapter,  that  he  can  not  agree  with  Dr.  Sutton  and 
others  that  hog  cholera  is  a  contagious  disease,  as  he 
has  as  yet  seen  nothing  to  convince  him  that  it  is  so. 
Many  carefully  conducted  experiments  and  close 
observation  are  necessary  to  establish  this  theory. 
As  before  stated,  the  author  has  given  especial  atten- 
tion to  the  disease  in  all  its  phases,  and  observations 
and  experiments  have  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  is  not  contagious.     It  was  for  a  long  time  believed 


POST-MORTEM    APPEARANCE.  167 

that  Asiatic  cholera  was  contagious^  but  certainly 
the  great  majority  of  the  medical  profession  at  this 
day  do  not  believe  in  the  theory  of  contagion  so  far 
as  this  disease  is  concerned^  and  so  too  in  regard 
to  many  other  diseases.  The  experiments  of  Dr. 
Sutton  and  others  are  deserving  of  attention,  and 
should  receive  the  thanks  of  the  farmer  and  the 
medical  profession.  It  is  a  fact  that  goes  to  show 
that  the  disease  is  not  contagious,  that  no  one  has 
received  any  injury  whatever  by  making  examina- 
tions of  the  bodies  of  hogs  that  have  died  of  hog 
cholera.  Dr.  Sutton  examined  forty-seven,  and 
received  no  injury;  Dr.  Snow  also  examined  many 
without  injury;  and  the  author  has  examined  more 
than  two  hundred  hogs  that  had  died  of  cholera, 
and  though  his  hands  were  chapped,  and  the  skin 
rubbed  off,  and  although  he  handled  the  diseased 
organs  freely  and  repeatedly,  yet  in  no  instance  did 
he  receive  any  injury  or  irritation  or  local  disease 
whatever.  He  therefore  concludes  that  it  is  a  doubt- 
ful theory. 

But,  whether  the  disease  is  contagious  or  not,  it  is 
certainly  safe  and  proper  to  separate  the  healthy 
from  the  diseased  hogs;  for  in  so  doing  a  better  op- 
portunity is  given  to  prevent  the  former  from  taking 
the  disease,  and  a  better  chance  to  treat  those  that 
are  already  diseased.     Practically,  therefore,  it  is  of 


168  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

little  consequence  whether  the  disease  is  contagious 
or  not.  Let  this  suffice  on  this  point,  as  it  would  not 
perhaps  be  profitable  to  discuss  this  matter  at  length. 
The  great  point,  after  all,  is  to  treat  subjects  of  this 
kind  in  a  plain,  practical  way. 


CAUSES  PEODUCING  CHOLERA.  169 


CHAPTER     XII. 

CAUSES    PEODUCING    CHOLERA. 

Experiments  —  Observations  in  pens — Long    attention    given    to  its 

study. 

In  the  two  preceding  chapters  a  brief  description 
of  the  diseased  appearances  of  hogs  that  had  died 
of  cholera  have  been  given.  This  description  em- 
braces as  minute  and  correct  an  account  of  the 
changes  produced  by  the  disease^  both  external  and 
internal  J  as  it  was  possible  to  give.  It  will  be  seen 
by  the  careful  reader  that  these  diseased  appear- 
ances vary  very  materially  in  different  cases  exam- 
ined, but  while  this  is  true,  some  particulai^  changes 
and  evidences  of  disease  are  found  in  nearly  every  case. 
This  variety  already  referred  to  has  given  rise  to 
many  opinions  and  theories  as  to  the  cause  or  causes 
of  the  disease  in  question.  While  it  is  not  the  wish 
or  intention  of  the  author  to  enter  into  a  discussion 
of  the  various  theories,  yet  he  believes  it  proper  to 
give  the  views  of  a  few  of  the  best  writers,  and  this 

"will  best  be  done  by  giving   their   own   language. 

15 


170  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

The  first  of  these  writers  to  which  he  calls  attention 
is  Dr.  Sutton,  of  Aurora,  Indiana,  who  seems  to  haA^e 
given  the  disease  much  attention,  and,  like  all  the 
rest,  seems  in  doubt  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  the 
disease,  but  gives  his  opinion  pretty  emphatically  as 
to  its  cause.     He  says : 

"At  first  I  was  inclined  to  believe  this  malady  to 
be  a  form  of  pleuro-pnewnonia,  but  after  I  became 
better  acquainted  with  it  I  found  that  the  inflam- 
mation was  not  uniformly  confined  to  any  organ.  In 
a  number  of  instances  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
bronchia  was  deeply  inflamed,  and  the  inflammation 
extended  to  the  trachea  and  larynx.  In  several 
instances  the  larynx  was  inflamed,  resembling  laryn- 
gitis. One  animal  that  had  great  difficulty  in  breath- 
ing, and  could  make  no  noise,  I  had  knocked  in  the 
head,  and  on  examination  I  found  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  larynx  and  epiglottis  inflamed  and 
swollen;  also  the  tongue  was  swollen.  There  were 
evidences  in  several  instances  of  pericarditis^  which 
had  produced  adhesions  between  the  heart  and  peri- 
cardium!' * 

Dr.  Sutton  therefore  thinks  it   impossible  to  give 

the  disease  a  name  which  will  express    its  nature. 

The   cause  he   beheves  to  be  atmospherical  poison, 

and  that  the  disease  is  a  true  epizootic  or  epidemic^ 

*  North  American  Medico-Chiriirgical  Eeview,  May,  1858. 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  171 

and  in  this  view  Dr.  Snow,  of  Providence,  Rhode 
Island,  concnrs,  though  Dr.  Snow  does  not  seem 
to  agree  with  Dr.  Sutton  that  it  is  contagious.  He 
says,  after  declaring  cholera  and  yellow-fever  non- 
contagious : 

"  So  I  firmly  believe  it  will  soon  be  with  reference 
to  this  and  other  similar  diseases  among  animals. 
They  are  not  contagious,  and  the  bcKef  that  they  are 
so  is  productive  of  great  injury  in  the  adoption  of 
measures  for  their  prevention."  (Patent  Office  Re- 
port, Agriculture,  1861.) 

The  name  of  cholera  is  certainly  very  inappropriate. 
Dr.  Snow  says:  "This  is  a  general  disease  of  the 
whole  system,  resulting  from  some  poisoning  of  the 
blood;"  and  then  adds:  "The  name  of  hog  cholera 
is  therefore  entirely  improper,  as  it  represents  only 
one  of  the  several  prominent  symptoms.  The  dis- 
ease might  as  correctly  and  as  incorrectly  be  called  a 
fleuro-pneiimoniar  It  is  a  fact,  as  the  writer  has 
already  shown,  that  there  is  little  if  any  resemblance 
to  cholera  in  the  human  subject,  as  the  diarrhea^  upon 
which  trne  cholera  depends  for  its  distinctive  feature, 
is  in  many  cases  of  so-called  cholera  in  the  hog  en- 
tirely wanting;  but,  as  before  stated,  the  writer  does 
not  propose  a  new  name,  since  the  disease  is  now  so 
generally  known  by  that  name. 

The  important  question  now  presents  itself,  What 


172  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

is  the  cause  of  hog  cholera  ?  To  an  answer  to  this 
question  we  now  propose  to  call  the  earnest  attention 
of  the  reader.  Many  attempts  have  been  made  to 
answer  this  important  question,  and,  as  we  have 
shown,  these  answers  have  been  conflicting,  and 
therefore  can  not  all  be  true,  nor  indeed  does  the 
writer  believe  any  of  them  to  be  correct. 

The  following  notions  have  from  time  to  time  been 
entertained;  viz.,  first,  atmospheric  poison;  second, 
worms;  third,  lice. 

As  to  the  first  we  actually  know  scarcely  anything 
at  all.  No  one,  scientific  or  otherwise,  can  by  any 
process  determine  what  poison  the  atmosphere  carries, 
nor  from  whence  it  emanates.  It  is  simply  an  ac- 
knowledgment that  we  do  not  know  what  does  pro- 
duce the  disease.  This  has  been  the  cry  for  ages  in 
regard  to  every  disease  which  has  prevailed  exten- 
sively. It  has  been  sufficient  to  say  that  a  disease 
has  been  produced  by  atmospheric  poison.  That 
poisons  may  be  conveyed  in  the  atmosphere  is  not 
denied,  but  that  this  is  an  explanation  in  the  case  in 
question  is  denied. 

In  regard  to  the  other  two,  it  is  simply  absurd  to 
suppose  that  they  do  more  than  act  in  a  secondary 
way ;  but  they  can  not  produce  the  results  observed, 
for  if  they  were  the  true  cause  of  the  disease  they 
would  be  found  in  every  case  after  death,  which  is 


CAUSES  PKODUCING  CHOLERA.  173 

by  no  means  true.     Then  the  question  still  recurs, 
What  is  the  cause  of  the  disease  ? 

Many  experiments  and  years  of  close  observation 
have  convinced  the  author  that  what  is  called  hog 
cholera  depends  for  its  production  upon  three  prin- 
cijpal  causes,  and  that  all  others  are  simply  secondary 
or  merely  exciting,  not  producing  causes.    These  are  : 

First.  Du8t  and  gases  arising  from  decaying  vege- 
table matter  and  animal  refuse.  These  produce  irri- 
tation  and  inflammation  in  the  air  passages,  and  even 
penetrate  into  the  small  bronchial  tubes  and  air  cells ; 
thus  congestion  and  inflammation  are  produced.  Hence 
the  disease  has  been  more  wide-spread  and  fatal  in 
years  of  drought. 

Second.  Exposure  to  cold.  Pleuro-pneumonia  is 
produced  in  this  way,  and  often  speedily  carries  off 
many  hogs;  and  this  is  particularly  the  case  with 
pigs.  Their  powers  of  resistance  are  less  than  older 
hogs,  and  they  fall  an  easy  prey  to  exposure.  This 
illustrates  a  fact  frequently  noticed  in  those  that 
have  died  from  this  cause,  that  the  disease  is  essen- 
tially an  inflammation  of  the  lung  and  its  covering,  the 
pleura,  while  the  other  organs  are  found  in  a  healthy 
state.  Still  this  form  of  disease  is  known  by  the 
name  of  cholera  by  almost  every  one. 

Third.    The  disease  is   propagated  from  diseased 
parents.     This   is   much   more   common  than  many 


174  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

persons  will  be  willing  to  admit;  but  the  author 
believes  that  he  can  show  this  point  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  any  one.  The  disease,  in  fact,  becomes 
tubercular,  and  this  tubercular  constitution  is  as  cer- 
tainly communicated  to  the  offspring  of  the  hog  as  it 
is  to  the  offspring  of  the  human  species. 

Doubtless  the  foregoing  views  will  appear  absurd 
to  many  persons,  but  the  writer  begs  such  persons  to 
examine  the  evidence  and  the  facts  which  he  now 
proposes  to  present,  in  substantiation  of  the  three 
positions  taken,  before  deciding  the  point. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  1858  the  writer  bought  a 
lot  of  stock  hogs,  apparently  in  perfect  health  and 
very  thrifty,  and  put  them  in  a  clover-field  which  he 
intended  breaking  up  in  the  following  spring ;  they 
w^ere  fed  twice  a  day  regularly ;  they  seemed  per- 
fectly well,  when  suddenly,  without  any  visible  cause, 
they  began  to  be  sick  and  to  die  rapidly.  Some 
remedies  suggested  by  a  neighbor  were  used  with 
apparently  good  results  in  a  few  cases,  but  most  of 
them  died.  Those  of  his  own  raising,  however, 
although  treated  in  precisely  the  same  way,  escaped 
the  disease.  The  writer  determined  to  give  the 
matter  a  thorough  examination.  The  bodies  of  all 
that  died  were  examined.  In  many  of  them  worms 
were  found  in  the  large  intestine,  and  still  more  in 
the   small  gut,   and  in  some  of  them  worms   were 


CAUSES   PRODUCING    CHOLERA.  175 

found  in  the  stomach.  There  was  more  or  less 
inflammation  both  of  the  stomach  and  bowels.  These 
worms  in  some  of  the  bodies  examined  were  found  in 
large  numbers,  and  the  conclusion  arrived  at  was  that 
these  worms  were  the  cause  of  the  disease,  and  that 
if  the  animal  could  be  relieved  of  these  entozoa  the 
disease  would  be  cured.  Vermifuges,  such  as  tur- 
pentine, arsenic,  etc.,  were  given,  and  successfully  so 
far  as  destroying  and  expelling  the  worms  was  con- 
cerned, but  the  hogs  still  continued  to  die.  It  was 
plain  that  the  cause  had  not  been  discovered.  Find- 
ins:  the  diseased  animals  infested  with  lice,  the  con- 
elusion  was  that  these  vermin  might  be  the  cause. 
These  were  easily  destroyed,  and  still  there  was  no 
abatement  of  the  disease.  Careful  nursing  was  now 
resorted  to,  such  as  cleanliness  and  proper  protection 
against  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather.  For  this 
purpose  suitable  sheds  or  houses  with  plank  floors 
were  prepared  for  them.  Clean,  dry  beds  were  pro- 
vided for  them,  and  changed  as  often  as  necessary ; 
these  beds  were  composed  of  good,  dry  straw.  This 
was  evidently  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  for  the 
animals  became  apparently  healthy,  while  the  hogs  of 
our  neighbors  who  neglected  these  measures  continued 
to  sicken  and  die.  Now,  certainly  the  proper  i3re- 
ventive  means  had  been  discovered  by  which  this 
terrible  scourge  might  be  kept  at  bay.    In  the  spring 


176  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

of  1859  the  writer  purchased  another  lot  of  stock 
hogs  that  seemed  to  he  sound.  These  hogs  were 
turned  in  the  fields  with  those  of  his  own  raising, 
and  all  fared  precisely  ahke,  but  in  a  short  time  these 
also  began  to  show  signs  of  disease.  The  supposition 
began  to  be  very  strong  that  these  hogs  had  the  dis- 
ease lurking  in  them  at  the  time  they  were  purchased, 
and  upon  inquiry  it  was  found  that  they  had  been 
fed  the  previous  winter  on  dry  corn  alone,  with  no 
grass  or  slops,  and  had  been  kept  in  a  barn-yard, 
where  they  wallowed  and  made  their  beds  in  the  dust 
and  manure  from  the  stables,  and  that  some  of  the 
lot  of  which  these  were  a  part  had  actually  died  of 
cholera. 

All  treatment  seemed  to  be  unavaihng,  though 
everything  that  promised  to  be  of  any  service  was 
tried.  They  began  to  vomit  and  purge,  and  death 
speedily  came  to  their  relief.  As  before,  their  bodies 
were  opened  and  carefully  examined,  but  neither 
worms  in  the  bowels  nor  lice  on  the  surface  were 
found.  The  stomach  and  bowels  were  in  a  state  of 
inflammation.  The  liver  was  badly  diseased ;  lumps 
were  seen  which  were  supposed  to  be  tubercles,  or 
perhaps  abscesses.  There  were  whitish  stripes  and 
spots  over  the  surface  of  the  liver  and  through  its 
substance.  The  lungs  contained  the  same  sort  of 
lumps  or  tubercles,  some  of  them  in  a  softened  state 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  177 

and  containing  matter  yellowish  in  color,  while  others 
were  black  and  exceedingly  offensive  to  the  smell. 
The  greater  portion  of  both  lungs  was  in  a  solidified 
or  hepatized  condition ;  in  some  cases  this  solidified 
part  had  a  reddish  and  in  others  a  grayish  color.  Of 
course  the  worm  and  louse  theory  was  out  of  the 
question,  and  was  abandoned,  as  these  were  only 
incidental  and  in  no  way  causative ;  but  that  these 
vermin  do  much  mischief  is  certain,  and  that,  in  rare 
cases,  they  cause  the  death  of  the  animal  is  possible, 
but  that  they  are  the  cause  or  a  cause  of  this  disease 
is  simply  absurd.  The  fact  that  if  they  are  the  cause 
of  the  disease  they  would  be  found  invariably  after 
death  is  quite  sufficient. 

Having  his  mind  directed  to  a  certain  agent  as 
likely  to  be  the  main  agent  in  the  production  of 
cholera,  the  writer  now  determined  to  try  an  experi- 
ment. A  healthy  sow,  which  a  few  days  before  had 
given  birth  to  eight  pigs,  was  put  in  a  shed  entirely 
dry  and  dusty.  She  was  fed  with  the  slops  from  the 
kitchen  and  given  water  regularly.  The  pigs  grew 
finely,  and  to  all  appearance  were  doing  well  for  some 
ten  or  twelve  days,  when  they  began  to  wheeze  and 
cough.  In  a  few  days  more  they  lost  the  use  of 
their  legs,  and  seemed  to  be  totally  blind;  breathing 
became  more  and  more  difficult,  and  in  a  week  from 
the  time  they  began  to  show  signs  of  disease  they 


178  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

were  all  dead^  and  the  sow  was  so  mucli  diseased  as 
to  do  no  good  afterward.  This  was  in  warm  weather. 
The  bodies  were  examined.  The  lungs  appeared 
swollen,  and  had  the  red  solidified  or  hepatized  look 
and  feel,  though  not  to  the  same  extent  as  those  pre- 
viously examined.  The  bowels  were  inflamed;  there 
were  no  worms  in  them.  Two  of  these  pigs  were  killed 
after  they  had  become  so  diseased  as  to  make  it 
certain  that  they  would  die,  for  they  could  neither 
stand  nor  suck.  They  were  bled,  in  order  that  the 
blood  might  not  be  in  the  way  during  the  examina- 
tion. The  nose,  throat,  and  windpipe  were  very 
carefully  examined.  Considerable  quantities  of  a  for- 
eign substance  was  discovered,  which  resembled  dust, 
lodged  on  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  air  passages, 
and  these  surfaces  were  all  in  a  state  of  inflammation. 
The  question  now  arose  in  the  mind  of  the  writer 
whether  it  was  possible  for  dust  thus  taken  into  the 
air  passages  to  give  rise  to  those  fatal  symptoms 
which  had  been  witnessed  in  those  that  had  died. 
But  one  experiment  was  not  enough  to  settle  this 
point  even  in  his  own  mind,  so  a  similar  experiment 
was  determined  upon. 

A  dry,  dusty  shed  was  selected  for  this  second 
experiment.  In  this  shed  was  placed  a  lot  of  hogs, 
and  treated  as  the  first  had  been  treated.  They  were 
in  every  respect  put  in  the  same  conditions  as  the 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  179 

SOW  and  pigs  had  been.  The  results  were  the  same, 
though  they  did  not  die  as  rapidly  as  the  pigs  had 
done.  The  writer  has  tried  hogs  of  all  ages  and  con- 
ditions as  to  flesh,  and  the  results  have  been  the  same 
invariably,  though  old  hogs  were  less  affected  than 
young  ones.  At  one  time  the  writer  had  thirty  shoats 
that  had  been  raised  with  great  care.  They  were 
pigged  on  plank  floors,  and  had  never  bedded  else- 
where. At  all  times  great  care  had  been  taken  to 
keep  their  beds  clean  and  dry,  by  frequently  throw- 
ing out  the  old  beds  and  giving  them  a  fresh  supply 
of  clean  straw,  and  sweeping  out  the  dust.  They 
were  in  the  very  best  possible  condition.  Early  in 
the  spring  they  were  taken  out  of  their  pen  and  put 
where  they  could  bed  in  dust,  and  were  suffered  to 
remain  there  about  four  months.  When  the  weather 
got  warm  they  began  to  die;  the  most  of  them  died 
just  as  they  lay  down  to  rest  on  their  bellies.  They 
did  not  appear  to  have  moved  after  lying  down,  and 
must  have  died  without  a  struggle.  A  few  of  this 
lot  escaped,  and  were  fattened  and  killed;  but,  al- 
though they  got  fat,  when  slaughtered  the  lungs  and 
liver  showed  unmistakable  evidences  of  disease. 

About  the  1st  of  May  a  lot  of  about  thirty  pigs 
were  allowed  to  bed  where  they  chose.  The  sows 
selected  their  beds,  and  all  seemed  to  be  doing  well. 
Before  the  pigs  were  weaned  the  weather  became 


180  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

very  warm  and  dry,  and  they  bedded  under  some 
shade-trees,  near  where  they  were  fed,  and  wallowed 
in  the  dust  much  of  the  time.  One  day  a  neigh- 
bor passing  by  remarked,  "You  have  a  fine  lot 
of  pigs."  We  answered,  Yes,  but  that  they  would 
have  cholera  shortly.  He  seemed  surprised,  and 
said  they  seemed  so  thrifty  and  fine-looking,  he 
thought  we  would  certainly  be  mistaken.  We  re- 
marked that  they  were  already  diseased,  and  would 
show  symptoms  of  it  very  soon,  and  that  the  disease 
would  be  fully  developed  by  the  time  cold  weather 
began.  On  the  approach  of  cold  weather  they  began 
to  wheeze  and  cough,  and  most  of  them  had  thumps. 
After  several  of  them  had  died,  the  rest  were  put 
in  pens  with  plank  floors,  so  arranged  as  to  serve  for 
bedding  and  feeding. 

Almost  every  medicine  reputed  to  cure  "hog 
cholera"  was  given,  but  without  benefit.  It  was  now 
determined  to  try  strict  attention  to  the  preparation 
of  their  food.  Corn-meal  and  wheat-bran,  equal  parts, 
were  well  cooked,  and  a  little  salt  and  wood-ashes 
added  to  the  food  thus  cooked.  Charcoal  was  kept 
by  them,  so  that  they  might  use  it  at  pleasure.  In 
a  few  days  after  this  treatment  was  commenced  they 
began  to  improve,  and  in  a  short  time  not  a  trace  of  the 
disease  was  observable,  except  in  one  animal.  This 
one  grew  as  rapidly  as  any  of  them,  and  looked  as 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  181 

well  as  any  of  the  lot,  but  breathed  with  some  diffi- 
culty. This  one  was  fed  the  next  fall,  and  took  on 
fat  as  well  as  the  rest,  but  still  breathed  badly. 
During  the  first  severe  cold  weather  they  were  fed 
in  the  morning  as  usual,  and  nothing  unusual  was 
noticed;  but  in  about  twenty  minutes  the  writer's 
attention  was  arrested  by  a  noise  among  the  herd, 
and  on  investigation  he  found  the  hog  that  had  all 
along  breathed  so  badly  was  down  and  struggling, 
and  in  a  dying  condition.  He  took  his  pocket-knife 
and  bled  the  hog,  and  after  he  was  dead  took  off  the 
hide,  and  took  out  the  bowels,  lungs,  and  liver,  and 
proceeded  to  examine  them. 

The  stomach  and  bowels  were  healthy,  as  might 
have  been  expected.  The  lungs  seemed  swollen,  and 
had  a  red  appearance  on  the  outside,  and  on  being 
cut  into  a  number  of  abscesses,  some  of  them  very 
small,  others  as  large  as  a  hen's  egg  or  larger,  were 
seen.  The  rest  of  the  lung  was  filled  with  clotted 
blood,  mixed  with  a  frothy,  sticky  mucus,  or  muco- 
purulent matter. 

The  liver  was  also  larger  than  natural,  and  abscesses 
were  found  through  the  substance  of  the  organ,  and 
also  hardened  spots  or  lumps.  Now  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  though  this  hog  was  diseased,  yet  he  got 
fat,  and  the  inference  is  plain  enough  that  the  disease 
was  still  lurking  in  him;  and  this  is  true  of  thousands 


182  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

of  fat  hogs  that  have  died  in  the  fattening  pens.  To 
show  how  rapidly  and  well  this  hog  had  taken  on  fat, 
it  will  only  be  necessary  to  state  that  thirteen  gallons 
of  white,  beautiful  lard  was  obtained  from  his  body. 
This  lard  could  have  easily  been  sold  in  the  market 
as  a  No.  1  article. 

A  neighbor  of  mine  was  noted  for  his  "good  luck" 
in  hog  raising,  and  had  never  been  troubled  with 
cholera.  Some  time  in  the  month  of  August  his 
hogs  began  to  show  signs  of  disease.  One  of  the 
first  signs  noticed  was  lameness,  and  tumors  on  the 
legs ;  this  was  followed  by  dullness  and  loss  of  appe- 
tite, and  in  a  few  days  from  the  time  the  disease  was 
first  noticed  the  hogs  thus  affected  died.  After  some 
eight  or  ten  had  died,  the  writer  was  passing  and  was 
requested  to  examine  the  herd,  for  there  were  sev- 
eral of  them  sick  at  the  time.  Upon  inquiry  into 
the  history  of  their  management,  he  was  told  that 
they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  sleeping  and  wallow- 
ing under  a  large  crib,  which  stood  high  enough 
from  the  ground  to  allow  them  easy  access.  There 
was  an  abundance  of  dry  dust  here,  and  the  hogs 
had  wallowed  and  slept  under  this  crib  much  of  the 
time  during  the  summer.  The  writer  informed  the 
owner  that  the  cause  of  the  disease  was  plain 
enough;  they  had  contracted  the  disease  in  this 
dust;  and   advised  that  the   entrance  to  this  dusty 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  183 

bed  be  closed  at  once,  and  that  the  hogs  be  put 
where  they  could  get  plenty  of  pure,  fresh  water, 
and  to  give  them  kitchen  slops,  the  surplus  milk 
from  the  dairy,  bran-mash,  etc.  This  advice  was 
carried  out,  and  the  result  was  that  no  more  hogs 
got  sick,  and  the  sick  ones  that  could  eat  at  all 
got  well. 

The  owner  of  the  next  lot  of  hogs  that  are  now  to 
be  mentioned  had  been  greatly  troubled  with  cholera 
among  his  hogs  for  a  period  of  two  years,  from  time 
to  time.  It  was  ascertained  that  his  hogs  were 
sometimes  allowed  to  lie  around  the  barn-yard,  and 
sleep  under  the  sheds,  and  at  other  times  were 
turned  out  where  they  had  no  shelter  or  protection 
in  any  way.  In  order  to  get  rid  of  this  scourge  he 
bought  two  sows  and  pigs,  amounting  to  some  eighteen 
or  twenty;  this  was  in  the  fall  of  the  year.  He 
put  them  where  they  had  a  run  to  grass,  and  beech 
and  oak  mast;  in  addition  they  were  fed  regularly 
twice  a  day.  A  good  shed  was  prepared  for  them 
to  bed  under;  this  shed  soon  got  dusty,  and  the  sows 
and  pigs  slept  and  wallowed  in  it.  Early  in  the 
spring  they  were  attacked  with  cholera,  and  the  pigs 
all  died. 

Numerous  observations  might  be  recorded  illus- 
trating this  point,  but  the  author  will  give  only  one 
more  fact,  which  came  under  his  notice  several  years 


184  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

ago,  and  which  will  at  the  same  time  show,  as  he  has 
elsewhere  intimated,  that  the  disease  in  question  had 
an  existence  many  years  ago,  but  was  not  then 
recognized.  The  circumstance  about  to  be  related 
occurred  in  the  year  1843  or  1844.  The  writer 
raised  a  fine  young  sow,  which  at  her  first  litter 
brought  eight  pigs ;  they  were  farrowed  some  time  in 
the  month  of  June.  Her  bed  was  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  yards  from  the  house,  in  the  margin  of  a 
piece  of  woodland.  A  lane  ran  from  the  woods 
through  the  farm;  this  lane  served  as  a  public  high- 
way, and  was  much  traveled  at  the  time.  About  the 
time  the  pigs  were  old  enough  to  follow  the  sow  the 
weather  became  very  hot  and  dry,  and  the  dust  be- 
came very  deep.  The  sow  always  came  up  to  the 
house  to  be  fed.  Upon  returning  to  the  house  one 
day  at  noon,  our  surprise  was  very  great  to  find  sev- 
eral of  the  pigs  dead,  lying  near  the  place  where  the 
sow  was  fed.  From  this  point  to  the  sow's  bed  the 
rest  of  the  pigs  were  found,  all  dead  save  one.  This 
was  certainly  very  strange  and  mysterious,  at  that 
time,  to  the  writer.  The  surviving  pig  lived  through 
the  next  winter,  and  kept  fat  enough,  but  did  not 
grow  to  be  large.  Some  time  in  the  spring  it  was 
driven  some  two  miles,  after  which  it  commenced 
purging,  and  died  in  a  short  time.  The  sow  had 
no  more  pigs  till  some  time  during  the  next  summer; 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  185 

this  litter  died  at  nearly  the  same  age,  and  in  the 
same  way.  Believing  that  something  was  wrong 
about  the  sow,  she  was  fattened  in  the  fall  and 
killed.  Not  till  his  investigations  into  the  cause  of 
hog  cholera  has  the  author  been  able  to  explain  the 
mystery  of  the  taking  off  of  these  pigs.  It  is  now 
to  his  mind  all  plain  enough,  and  he  risks  nothing,  as 
he  believes,  in  affirming  that  in  every  case  where 
hogs  are  placed  in  the  conditions  and  circumstances 
above  detailed,  they  will  as  certainly  be  attacked 
with  the  disease  popularly  known  as  hog  cholera. 
Many  farmers  to  whom  these  facts  have  been  de- 
tailed, and  who  have  been  observing  for  themselves, 
have  fully  concurred  with  the  author  in  his  views. 
A  careful  and  candid  investigation  is  all  that  is  de- 
manded; or,  if  any  are  still  skeptical,  let  them  repeat 
the  experiments  herein  set  forth  for  themselves. 
Let  the  hogs  experimented  on  have  plenty  of  dust  to 
wallow  in  at  pleasure,  and  let  them  sleep  in  dusty 
beds  constantly,  and  you  may  feed  them  in  any  way, 
or  on  any  kind  of  food,  and  sooner  or  later  you  will 
have  hog  cholera  in  abundance.  The  author  chal- 
lenges any  one  who  doubts  to  make  the  test  for  him- 
self. These  things  being  true,  how  easy  it  will  be 
to  protect  this  valuable  animal  from  the  disease,  and 
save  millions  of  dollars  annually  to  the  country. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  we  will  consider  exposure 

16 


186  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

as  a  cause  of  the  disease.  It  will  not  be  denied  that 
exposure  to  cold,  and  particularly  cold  rains,  and  the 
sudden  changes  in  the  temperature  in  our  Middle 
States  from  rain  to  snow,  and  even  to  severe  freezing, 
which  frequently  happens,  can  not  fail  to  produce 
disease.  If  the  animal,  as  is  too  frequently  the  case, 
has  little  or  may  be  no  protection,  but  is  left  to 
shiver  in  the  cold  without  shelter  or  bed,  and  often 
without  sufficient  food,  certain  results  follow.  What 
form  of  disease  results  from  this  sort  of  exposure*? 
A  few  observations  on  this  point  will  answer  this 
question. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  hog  is  not  suited 
by  nature  to  stand  the  effect  of  a  cold  climate  as  well 
as  a  mild  or  warm  climate.  It  has  been  shown  that 
this  fact,  if  known  by  hog-raisers,  has  certainly  not 
been  acted  upon;  in  fact,  in  many  places  no  protec- 
tion whatever  is  given  them.  In  illustration  of  the 
effect  of  exposure  to  cold  as  a  cause  of  disease,  the 
author  will  here  detail  a  circumstance  which  hap- 
pened his  own  herd. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  1866  his  stock  of  hogs 
consisted  of  five  young  sows  and  thirty-odd  fall 
shoats  or  pigs.  In  order  to  save  these  through  the 
winter  he  prepared  an  old  out-house,  which  was  well 
adapted  to  his  purpose ;  it  had  a  good  floor,  and  it 
was   only  necessary    to   cut   off   and  plank  up  one 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  187 

corner  of  the  house  to  contain  their  food,  which 
consisted  of  corn.  A  good  supply  of  straw  was  con- 
stantly furnished  them  for  beds.  The  corn  thus 
supplied  them  was  not  sound,  for  much  of  it  had 
fallen  down  in  the  field,  and  became  sour  and  par- 
tially decayed;  but,  as  every  one  knows,  this  kind 
of  food  it  is  commonly  expected  that  the  stock  hogs 
will  consume.  This  defect  in  the  treatment  was, 
however,  remedied  by  a  run  to  grass  and  mast  in  a 
wood  near  by,  and  all  the  slops  from  the  kitchen  was 
given  them  three  or  four  times  a  week.  They  kept 
in  fine  condition.  About  the  first  of  February  the 
writer  was  called  away  from  home,  to  be  gone  ten  or 
twelve  days.  Almost  immediately  after  leaving 
home  the  weather  turned  exceedingly  cold.  On  his 
retm^n  home  he  was  informed  that  his  hogs  had 
cholera,  that  one  sow  had  died  and  three  others  were 
sick,  and  that  all  the  shoats  were  either  sick  or  dead. 
Diligent  inquiry  was  made  in  regard  to  the  matter, 
and  it  was  ascertained  that  when  the  weather  turned 
cold  they  began  to  show  signs  of  disease.  On  account 
of  the  severe  cold,  and  the  snow  which  covered  the 
ground,  they  could  no  longer  get  the  grass  nor  mast, 
and  were  fed  exclusively  on  the  kind  of  corn  already 
spoken  of,  which  had  also  become  frozen.  Upon 
noticing  that  they  seemed  to  be  in  pain,  their  feet 
drawn  under   them,   and    breathing  with   difficulty, 


188  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

they  had  been  turned  out  of  the  house  and  put  into 
a  lot  where  they  had  no  shelter  or  protection  from 
the  biting  winds,  except  some  hay  given  them  for 
beds.  On  the  morning  after  my  return  but  one  of 
the  sows  was  able  to  eat;  the  shoats  were  all  dead, 
save  six,  and  tliey  were  so  near  dead  that  all  efforts 
were  unavailing  to  save  them.  These  hogs  had 
never  bedded  on  the  ground;  they  were  farrowed  in 
the  house,  and  were  fed  regularly.  In  addition  to 
this  they  had  grass  and  mast,  and  although  they 
were  fed  on  corn  only  partly  sound,  yet  while  the 
weather  remained  mild  they  were  healthy;  but  when 
very  severe  weather  set  in,  and  they  were  deprived 
of  the  grass  and  mast,  and  were  fed  exclusively  on 
the  rotten  corn,  which  had  frozen,  they  became  en- 
feebled and  chilled,  and  were  then  in  this  condition 
turned  out  of  their  shelter,  and  the  result  was  they 
were  placed  in  the  very  best  possible  condition  to 
take  'pneumonia  or  pleuro-pneumonia,  which  was  act- 
ually the  disease  of  which  they  died. 

To  show  how  hogs  are  treated,  and  how  they  are 
exposed,  the  following  communication  from  an  old 
hog-raiser  will  show: 

"  Coles  County,  Illinois,  May  6,  1867. 
"Mr.  James  A.  Eeasor: 

"Dear  Sir — Having  learned  that  for  several  years 
you  have  been  making  examinations,  experiments, 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  189 

and  investigations  of  the  cause  and  probable  cure  of 
the  disease  called  ^hog  cholera/  and  that  you  intend 
giving  the  farmers  and  the  public  in  general  the 
benefit  of  your  researches  in  the  form  of  a  book,  I 
take  the  liberty  of  sending  you  a  few  lines  from  the 
hog-cholera  regions  of  Illinois. 

"I  propose  to  give  you  an  outline  of  my  observa- 
tions in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  the  hog  in  this 
state,  as  it  has  come  under  my  notice  at  various 
times  during  the  last  sixteen  years.  I  also  propose 
giving  you  a  short  history  of  my  own  experience  in 
hog  raising. 

"In  the  first  place  I  would  not  have  you  think  me 
a  model  hog-raiser;  for  I,  in  common  with  many 
others,  had  to  make  my  farm  and  support  my  family 
at  the  same  time;  consequently  had  little  time  to 
give  the  matter  that  attention  which  its  importance 
justly  demanded.  But,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  I 
have  always  observed  the  hog  more  closely  than  any 
other  kind  of  stock;  for  upon  him  I  relied  as  the 
chief  source  of  my  income.  Within  the  past  few 
years,  however,  the  hog  has  become  so  diseased  that 
I  was  forced  to  turn  my  attention  to  something  else. 

"  It  is  a  common  practice  in  this  country  for  farmers 
to  make  large  ricks  of  straw  in  threshing  time  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  their  hogs,  cattle,  and  other 
stock   from  storms,  and  for  the  cattle  to   feed  on 


190  ,  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

through  the  winter.  By  the  time  the  hardest  part 
of  winter  and  the  cold  rains  of  early  spring  set  in, 
the  cattle  have  eaten  away  so  much  of  the  straw  that 
the  hogs  have  to  bed  in  the  wet,  rotten  straw  and 
manure,  or  else  make  holes  under  the  straw  far 
enough  back  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  the  cattle. 
When  the  latter  is  the  case  the  hogs  are  deprived  of 
pure  air,  and  these  holes  become  dusty;  the  conse- 
quence is,  when  spring  opens,  hogs  thus  treated  come 
out  of  these  holes  and  manure  piles — ^if  able  to  get 
out — drawn  up,  mangy,  and  generally  affected  Avith 
a  cough  and  wheezing.  Yery  frequently  hogs  are 
confined  in  a  small  lot  around  such  straw-piles,  and 
have  no  food  during  the  entire  winter,  save  dry  corn 
and  the  droppings  of  the  cattle. 

"  Other  farmers  keep  their  hogs  during  the  winter 
in  a  lot  in  the  open  prairie,  without  any  bedding 
or  shelter,  and  many  times  they  are  so  black  with 
the  black  mud  common  to  this  country  that  it  is 
scarcely  possible  to  distinguish  the  animal's  true 
color.  I  have  actually  seen  hogs  come  out  of  a  hole 
of  mud  and  water  when  the  ground  was  frozen  around 
them.  When  the  bleak  winds  would  strike  them  they 
were  soon  chilled,  and  had  to  bed  on  the  frozen  ground 
or  return  to  their  watery  beds,  if  they  (the  beds) 
were  not  frozen  up  before  they  could  get  back  to 
them. 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  191 

^'When  fattening  time  conies  it  is  a  common  prac- 
tice of  farmers  to  confine  their  hogs  in  a  lot  and  give 
them  a  wagon-load  of  corn.  When  the  corn  is  con- 
sumed they  are  allowed  to  get  squealing  hungry 
before  another  load  is  thrown  in  to  them.  All  sizes 
are  fattened  together,  and  when  the  largest  are  driven 
to  market  or  killed  the  supply  of  corn  is  reduced,  and 
the  weather  becomes  more  severe,  and  those  remain- 
ing in  the  pen  suffer  greatly,  and  by  spring  many  of 
them  are  dead.  Those  that  survive  require  nearly  the 
whole  summer  to  regain  what  they  have  lost,  and 
even  then  they  are  not  worth  as  much  as  they  were 
on  the  1st  of  January  before.  Some  farmers  buy 
large  numbers  of  stock  hogs  and  cattle,  and  feed  them 
in  separate  lots,  and  change  them,  so  as  to  have  the 
hogs  follow  the  cattle.  They  are  generally  fed  on 
corn  cut  and  shocked  in  the  fall,  and  hauled  out  of 
the  fields  and  thrown  down  on  the  ground,  and  with- 
out husking  the  corn.  In  this  way  the  hogs  get  some- 
thing for  beds,  the  corn-stalks  and  shucks  furnishing 
the  material.  This,  among  the  large  stock-growers, 
has  been  thought  sufficient,  and  indeed  the  most 
successful  manner  of  raising  the  hog.  But  allow  me 
to  give  a  little  of  my  own  experience  with  the  hog. 

^*  I  generally  let  my  hogs  run  till  fattening  time, 
and  then,  some  week  or  so  before  putting  them  up  to 
fatten,  I  was  in  the  habit  of  feeding  them  morning 


192  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

and  evening,  watered  them  well,  and  so  gradually 
increased  their  food  till  they  became  fat,  and  generally 
had  good  luck.  But  finally,  about  the  time  the  hog 
cholera  broke  out  in  this  country,  I  had  a  fine  lot  of 
about  fifty  hogs.  About  fifteen  were  nice  young 
sows  that  I  calculated  to  keep  as  breeders.  I  had 
only  one  sow  that  had  her  second  litter.  There  were 
some  thirty  or  thirty-five  that  I  intended  to  put  into 
what  we  call  the  spring  or  June  market.  These  hogs 
all  run  together,  and  I  had  gotten  them  through 
the  winter,  and  they  looked  well.  As  the  cholera 
had  made  its  appearance  in  the  neighborhood,  I  was 
advised  to  put  my  hogs  up  in  order  to  keep  them 
from  catching  the  disease.  I  finally  did  as  I  was 
advised.  I  put  them  in  the  same  lot  in  which  they 
had  been  fed  during  the  winter ;  they  bedded  in  the 
same  beds  that  they  had  used  during  the  winter, 
which  was  under  a  large  straw-shed.  I  fed  them 
with  plenty  of  corn  and  they  had  abundance  of 
water.  On  the  1st  of  April  they  would  have  weighed 
from  two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
each.  After  they  had  been  confined  thus  for  three  or 
four  weeks  they  began  to  be  slow  about  getting  out 
of  their  beds  in  the  morning,  and  frequently  coughed, 
and  grew  more  and  more  delicate  about  eating,  and 
some  refused  at  last  to  eat  at  all,  and  in  a  few  more 
days  they   began  to  die.      I  doctored   them   with 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  193 

various  things,  but  thirteen  of  them  died  in  a  short 
time.  The  sows  began  to  bring  forth  before  the 
right  time ;  only  one  of  them  raised  her  pigs  to  be  a 
week  old.  Some,  and  in  fact  most,  of  the  pigs  came 
dead;  some  of  them  in  a  state  of  decay,  and  almost 
any  way  but  the  right  way,  except  one  old  sow;  she 
brought  forth  all  right,  and  she  and  the  pigs  remained 
healthy.  I  saved  a  few  of  those  that  were  diseased, 
but  they  never  fattened  like  my  hogs  had  done 
before.  I  afterward  raised  healthy  hogs  on  the  same 
farm  and  on  the  same  ground. 

"Respectfully,  Wm.  B.  Hawkins." 

In  passing  through  an  adjoining  county  the  writer 
was  requested  by  a  gentleman  to  look  at  a  lot  of  hogs 
that  were  at  that  time  (January,  1866)  suffering  with 
cholera,  as  he  supposed.  This  herd  consisted  of  about 
sixty;  they  were,  as  our  friend  told  us,  in  fine  con- 
dition up  to  the  time  they  were  taken  sick.  They 
had  been  well  cared  for,  and  were  allowed  to  run  in 
a  lot  with  a  lot  of  mules  that  were  being  fed,  in  order 
to  eat  the  droppings  from  the  mules,  and  where  they 
could  have  good  beds  and  shelter.  Some  time  in 
January  mules  and  hogs  were  turned  into  a  field 
where  there  was  no  shelter  for  the  hogs  except  an 
old  straw-stack,  partly   beaten  and  trampled   down 

and  partly  decayed.     The  hogs  at  once  resorted  to 

17 


194  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

this  old  straw  for  beds  and  shelter.  In  a  few  days 
after  being  put  into  the  field  the  weather  turned  very 
cold,  and  continued  so  for  some  weeks.  In  eight  or 
ten  days  after  the  change  in  the  weather  all  this  lot 
of  hogs,  consisting  of  sixty,  were  attacked  with 
cholera,  except  six  or  eight.  They  refused  food, 
coughed,  had  difficulty  of  breathing,  and  some  of 
them  had  thumps,  and  aU  that  were  attacked  died  in 
a  few  days.  Many  similar  cases  could  be  given 
equally  striking  and  conclusive.  Now  it  often  hap- 
pens that  the  effects  just  recorded  do  not  produce 
such  speedy  results,  but  for  weeks,  it  may  be,  the 
disease  has  been  creeping  on  so  imperceptibly  that 
it  may  be  overlooked  till  the  more  violent  symptoms 
appear.  But  to  one  accustomed  to  notice  closely  the 
actions  and  habits  of  his  herd,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
animal  loses  energy,  and  has  cough,  and  some  of  them 
thumps,  and  they  refuse  food,  and  are  thirsty.  These 
symptoms  precede  the  final  and  fatal  termination. 

Many  of  the  cases  brought  on  by  exposure  linger 
along  till  warm  weather,  and  finally  get  well;  but 
great  numbers  of  them  have  the  disease  re-awakened 
by  contact  with  the  dust  and  heat  of  summer,  and 
are  speedily  destroyed. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  hogs  that  have  had 
good  beds,  proper  food,  and  sufficient  protection 
through  the  winter  are  better  able  to  resist  both  the 


CAUSES  PRODUCING  CHOLERA.  195 

influence  of  cold  and  keep  in  better  condition  than 
those  that  have  been  deprived  of  them. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  attempt  to  show  thai 
hogs  given  all  necessary  protection  during  the  wintei 
will  in  every  respect  be  better  off,  even  though  both 
may  be  fed  precisely  alike.  They  will  also  be  less 
liable  to  disease  of  any  kind  than  those  that  have 
been  exposed  to  the  inclemencies  of  a  severe  winter, 
and  this  is  particularly  true  of  young  hogs  and  pigs. 
It  happens  often  that  animals  apparentli/  get  well 
after  suffering  a  long  time.  And  this  brings  us  to 
consider,  in  the  third  and  last  place,  the  transmissi- 
hility  of  the  disease. 

It  has  already  been  intimated  that  this  disease 
may  be  propagated  by  diseased  parents.  It  often 
happens  that  the  sow  or  boar  has  had  cholera,  and 
apparently  get  weU,  and  are  kept  as  breeders ;  and  as 
certainly  as  this  is  done  their  offspring  are  much  more 
liable  to  the  disease  than  the  offspring  of  those  that 
have  never  had  it.  It  has  been  clearly  demonstrated 
that  hogs  are  occasionally  the  subjects  of  tubercular 
disease,  and  in  many  of  the  animals  examined  by  the 
author  tubercles  were  found  in  the  lungs  and  liver; 
and  in  cases  of  this  kind  their  history  shows  that 
they  had  lingered  for  a  considerable  time  before 
dying.  Now  nothing  is  more  certainly  known  than 
that  this  disease  in  the  human  subject  is  communicated 


196  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

from  father  or  mother  to  the  children,  and  such  is 
also  the  case  with  this  class  of  the  lower  animals. 
The  author  has  given  this  matter  careful  and  earnest 
attention,  and  has  been  fully  convinced  that  the  off- 
spring of  these  diseased  animals  are  born  with  the 
seeds  of  the  disease  in  them,  and  being  exposed  to 
the  causes  already  treated  of  in  fuU,  have  fallen  easy 
victims.  He  would  not  pretend  to  say  what  per- 
centage of  deaths  are  traceable  directly  to  this  cause, 
but  is  perfectly  certain  that  it  is  very  considerable. 
The  case  reported  by  Dr.  W.  M.  Allen,  to  which 
attention  is  particularly  called,  will  illustrate  this 
point.  Now  pigs  begotten  of  such  an  animal,  it  is 
easy  to  see,  must  of  necessity  have  feeble  constitu- 
tions, and  when  exposed  to  the  inclemencies  of  the 
winter,  without  adequate  protection,  or  inhaling  the 
dust  in  the  heat  of  summer,  will  speedily  become  dis- 
eased, and  this  class  wiU  generally  all  die.  The  pigs 
of  diseased  parents  begin  to  show  disease  in  a  very 
few  days  after  birth,  as  a  general  rule,  but  may  get 
to  be  from  one  to  three  or  four  weeks  old  before 
giving  evidence  of  the  presence  of  the  malady. 
They  frequently  show  a  want  of  plumpness,  seem 
feeble,  and  do  not  grow  rapidly;  and  indeed  so 
feeble  are  some  of  them  that  they  live  but  a  short 
time,  and  die  from,  inanition,  or  want  of  the  powers  of 
yfe,  aiid  because  they  pan  not  digest  and  appropriate 


CAUSES   PKODUCING   CHOLERA.  197 

the  nourishment  taken;  in  short,  die  from  starvation, 
although  the  mother  may  have  a  sufficiency  of  milk. 
These  cases  are  numerous,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  a  vast 
majority  of  hogs  that  die  of  cholera  die  while  pigs,  or 
before  they  come  to  maturity,  or  perhaps  it  would 
be  more  correct  to  say  before  they  are  old  enough  to 
be  fattened.  Even  in  hogs  that  have  become  fat 
these  tubercles  are  occasionally  seen,  or  evidence  of 
having  existed.  Evidence  of  this  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  scar-like  or  hardened  places  are  found  in 
the  lungs  after  death.  The  author  asks  especial  at- 
tention to  the  foregoing  facts,  as  he  considers  them 
of  much  importance  in  the  attainment  of  the  great 
object — viz.,  of  preventing  the  disease. 

In  conclusion  of  what  he  has  to  say  on  this  branch 
of  the  subject,  the  author  wishes  to  add  that  not  un- 
frequently  the  three  principal  causes — viz.,  inhalation 
of  dust,  exposure  to  cold,  and  hereditary  predisposition— 
combine  to  produce  the  disease.  One  of  these  causes 
may  lie  dormant,  and  never  produce  an  outbreak  of 
the  disease.  It  is  easy  to  understand  how,  if  pigs 
inherit  disease  from  their  parents,  that  the  other  two 
may  act  as  exciting  causes,  and  thus  light  up  the 
disease  which  already  lurks  in  them.  Too  much 
stress,  therefore,  can  not  be  given  to  the  importance 
of  selecting  none  hut  those  that  have  never  had  the  dis- 
ease as  hreeders,  and  this  applies  to  both  male  and 


198  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

female.  The  author  firmly  believes  that  if  this  rule 
is  fully  carried  out,  hog  cholera  would  to  a  great 
degree  be  prevented,  if  not  eradicated.  It  must  not 
be  understood,  however,  that  this  alone  would  pre- 
vent the  disease,  but  that  the  observance  of  the 
above  rule,  in  connection  with  proper  protection 
during  the  winter  and  early  spring,  and  avoidance 
of  dusty  pens  and  beds  in  summer,  can  not  fail  to 
prevent  the  disease,  and  produce  healthy,  robust 
animals. 


TREATMENT  OF  CHOLERA. 


199 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

TREATMENT    OF    CHOLERA. 

Prevention  better  than  cure — Early   attention  important — Feeding — 
Watering — Bedding — Medical  treatment — Recipes. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  by  the  reader  that  the 
author  lays  but  little  stress  on  the  medical  treatment 
of  hog  cholera.  His  main  object  is  to  point  out  how 
the  disease  may  be  prevented  more  than  how  it  may 
be  cured,  though  much  may  be  done  to  cure  the 
animal  after  the  disease  has  made  considerable  head- 
way. When  the  animal  has  the  disease  in  its  worst 
form,  but  little  can  be  done  for  them  in  the  way  of 
medication.  It  may  be  truly  said  that  medicines  are 
of  but  little  use  unless  it  be  of  a  kind  that  the  hog 
will  readily  take  in  his  food  or  drink;  for  when  he 
has  to  be  forced  to  take  it,  it  will  be  found  to  be  a 
very  difficult  matter,  and  next  to  impossible  to  do  it. 
The  author  is  convinced  that  great  mischief  has  been 
done  by  patent-medicine  venders,  who,  without  any 
practical  knowledge  of  the  disease,  and  indeed  of 
the  nature  and  habits  of  the  hog,  or  of  the  remedies 


200  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

or  rather  drugs  he  employs,  dupes  the  too  credulous 
farmer  into  the  belief  that  he  has  a  specific  "which 
has  never  been  known  to  fail  to  cure  any  case,  how- 
ever bad."  These  medicines  are  too  often  relied 
upon,  and  attention  to  the  hygiene  of  the  hog  is  neg- 
lected. Thus  thousands  of  hogs  die  as  well  from 
the  medicine  as  from  neglect.  The  most  absurd 
compounds  have  been  palmed  off  on  the  farmer,  each 
having  its  day,  doing  its  mischief,  and  passing  away. 

The  important  matter  in  the  treatment  of  this  ter- 
rible malady  is  to  study  it,  so  as  to  be  able  to  detect 
it  in  its  very  first  signs,  and  before  it  has  taken  deep 
hold  upon  its  victim.  When  the  first  symptoms  are 
discovered,  it  will  often  be  an  easy  matter  to  arrest 
the  disease.  In  fact,  if  the  causes  already  detailed 
are  the  true  ones,  such  measures  may  be  taken  as 
will  prevent  it. 

The  first  and  most  important  matter  to  be  attended 
to  is  the  proper  treatment  and  management  of  the 
he7'd.  In  the  first  place,  do  not  allow  them  to  wal- 
low and  sleep  in  dusty  places.  This,  as  we  have 
tried  to  show,  is  the  main  cause  of  the  disease  in 
numerous  cases.  If  they  are  allowed  to  sleep  under 
sheds,  around  the  barn  or  stables  or  out-houses,  or  in 
old  decaying  straw-stacks,  or  in  heaps  of  stable  re- 
fuse, they  will  be  almost  certainly  diseased  sooner 
or  later.     The  disease  may  remain  latent  for  some 


TEEATMENT  OF  CHOLERA.  201 

time,  or  it  may  be  the  symptoms  appear  so  trivial  as 
to  giA^e  rise  to  no  suspicion  of  its  presence;  but  upon 
exposure  to  a  suddenly  cold  spell  of  weather  the 
disease  is  developed,  and  death  swiftly  follows.  Let 
the  reader  make  himself  thoroughly  familiar  with 
the  symptoms,  and  particularly,  as  we  have  already 
insisted,  the  very  first  symptoms  of  the  disease,  and 
when  it  is  ascertained  that  your  herd  is  suffering, 
go  at  once  into  a  thorough  investigation  of  all  the 
surroundings,  and  if  any  of  the  causes  already  fully 
given  should  be  present,  set  about  at  once  to  remove 
it,  for  in  doing  so  the  difficulty  will  in  great  measure 
be  removed. 

1.  See  if  their  beds  and  wallo wing-places  are  dusty. 

2.  See  if  they  have  adequate  protection  from  the 
cold  rains,  snows,  and  winds. 

3.  See  that  their  food  is  of  the  proper  quality  and 
quantity. 

4.  See  that  they  have  an  abundance  of  pure  water. 

5.  See  that  they  are  not  crowded  together  in  too 
great  numbers. 

6.  See  that  they  have  no  lice;  or  if  so,  destroy 
them  at  once. 

7.  Give  attention  to  removing  the  diseased  ones 
from  among  those  that  are  healthy ;  not  on  account 
of  contagion,  but  that  they  may  receive  special  at- 
tention. 


202  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

It  will  be  a  comparatively  easy  matter,  by  careful 
attention  to  the  foregoing  items,  to  save  your  herds 
from  the  worst  form  of  the  disease. 

The  author  can  not  refrain  from  quoting  the  very 
sensible  and  practical  suggestions  of  Mr.  H.  C.  Smith, 
of  Ridge  Farm,  Vermilion  County,  Illinois,  delivered 
before  the  State  Agricultural  Society  of  Ohio.  Mr. 
Smith  says: 

"  In  the  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  the  hog  I  con- 
sidered the  old  proverb  especially  true — 'An  ounce 
of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure' — because  in 
almost  all  cases  where  a  hog  is  once  diseased  to  any 
considerable  extent  the  cure  is  worth  more  than  the 
cured  hog.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  important  that 
we  take  especial  care  to  prevent  disease  among  our 
swine.  The  hog,  if  properly  treated,  is  perhaps  the 
least  liable  to  disease  of  any  of  our  domesticated 
animals,  and  his  wants  are  few  and  simple,  but  from 
the  nature  of  his  habits  his  few  wants  are  imperative. 

"The  disease  known  as  cholera,  which  has  made 
such  havoc  among  our  herds  for  the  past  few  years, 
is  undoubtedly  caused  by  the  filthy  and  careless 
manner  in  which  we  treat  our  hogs.  We  have  been 
driving  them  to  it  for  years.  Each  successive  gen- 
eration continued  to  have  its  vitality  played  upon, 
and  its  constitution  to  grow  weaker  and  weaker  by 
continual  abuses,  until  it  finally  culminated  in  a  dis- 


TREATMENT  OF  CHOLERA.  203 

ease  that  carried  off  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the 
poor  creatures,  and  thus  relieved  them  from  the 
misery  and  curse  of  neglect  of  their  careless  owners, 
and  perhaps  saved  hundreds  of  human  beings  from 
destruction  by  the  use  of  pork  contaminated  by  cor- 
ruption and  disease.  Our  only  remedy  is  in  a  radical 
change  in  the  care  of  our  hogs.  By  suddenly  changing 
from  scant  fare  of  grass,  roots,  and  such  other  rub- 
bish as  the  hog  can  gather  up  in  the  streets  and 
lanes,  to  high  feeding  of  corn  or  still-slops,  the  dor- 
mant stomach  and  digestive  organs  are  overtaxed, 
the  food  lies  undigested  in  the  stomach  until  it  sours 
and  ferments,  which  produces  constipation  and  irri- 
tation throughout  the  whole  digestive  apparatus,  and 
by  its  long  continuance  the  whole  system  is  impreg- 
nated with  fever  and  disease.  After  the  disease  has 
far  advanced,  to  attempt  a  cure  will  be  impossible. 
After  a  hog  has  lost  his  appetite  it  is  very  trouble- 
some to  administer  medicines  to  him;  but  by  taking 
it  in  time,  while  he  will  still  eat,  and  give  him  some 
slight  purgative  and  some  neutralizing  substance,  with 
moderate  food  of  a  green,  succulent  nature,  and  pure 
air  and  free  exercise,  he  will  most  likely  recover. 

"I  have  never  had  a  case  of  the  cholera  among 
my  hogs,  although  it  has  been  in  adjoining  pastures 
frequently.  My  plan  of  preventing  it  is,  during  the 
grass  season,  to  allow  my  hogs  plenty  of  grass,  feed 


204  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOa. 

regular,  and  when  I  want  to  raise  the  feed  do  it 
gradually;  give  my  hogs  plenty  of  salt,  which  stim- 
ulates the  digestive  organs,  and  allow  them  free 
access  to  stone-coal,  of  which  they  consume  large 
quantities,  and  the  salt  and  coal  neutralii^e  any  acid- 
ity that  may  be  created  in  the  stomach  before  it  has 
time  to  affect  the  system." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  by  a  little  judicious  care  in 
the  management  of  the  hog  the  disease  may  be 
wholly  prevented.  Mr.  Smith's  hogs  did  not  have 
the  disease,  although  hogs  in  adjoining  fields  had  it. 
The  above  facts  can  not  be  too  forcibly  impressed 
upon  the  minds  of  our  farmers  and  raisers  of  hogs. 
Indeed  it  may  be  observed  with  truth  that  no  man  is 
fit  to  raise  animals  of  any  kind  unless  he  first  learns 
how  to  manage  them,  both  in  health  and  disease. 

Now,  if  the  reader  will  carefully  examine  the  re- 
ports so  carefully  and  accurately  made  by  the  Illinois 
physicians,  and  that  of  Dr.  W.  M.  Allen,  of  Jefferson 
County,  Kentucky,  and  those  of  the  author,  the  con- 
clusion win  be  inevitable  that  no  medical  treatment 
can  cure  hogs  thus  diseased.  They  may  appear  to 
get  well,  yet  it  is  questionable  whether  their  flesh  is 
ever  fit  for  food,  and  for  the  good  of  humanity  ought 
to  be  given  to  the  soap-boiler. 

Every  hog-raiser  should  make  a  habit  of  inspecting 
his  hogs  daily.     In  this  way  he  will  be  able  to  see 


TREATMENT  OF  CHOLERA.  205 

any  departure  from  health,  and  be  thus  able  at  once 
to  go  to  work  to  relieve  them ;  or  if  he  sees  existing 
those  causes  which  we  have  so  plainly  laid  down,  he 
can  at  once  set  about  removing  them  before  his  herd 
has  been  affected  by  them. 

Now  let  us  suppose  that  you  have  given  attention 
to  the  matters  above  detailed,  and  that  upon  careful 
inspection  you  have  discovered  that  some  of  your 
herd  have  lost  their  appetite ;  they  do  not  respond  to 
your  call  as  usual;  they  seem  languid;  they  are 
hacking  and  coughing;  they  breathe  more  quickly 
than  natural,  and  they  wheeze,  and  have  thumping 
of  the  flanks.  These  symptoms  will  indicate  to  you 
that  you  have  no  time  to  lose  if  you  would  save  your 
herd.  You  ought  at  once  to  remove  the  herd  from 
dust,  if  in  the  summer,  to  a  place  where  they  can 
get  pure,  fresh  water;  if  in  the  winter,  to  a  place 
where  they  will  be  protected  from  the  cold,  and 
where  they  can  have  good,  warm  beds;  and  they 
should  be  given  warm  slops  made  of  wheat-bran  or 
meal,  or  these  two  mixed  and  thoroughly  cooked. 
They  should  be  allowed  plenty  of  salt,  and  an  abun- 
dance of  stone-coal  or  charcoal,  of  which  they  will 
often  eat  greedily.  At  the  same  time  they  should 
have  a  good  supply  of  water,  for  they  are  generally 
thirsty.  If  the  dairy  furnishes  plenty  of  milk  let 
them  have  all  that  can  be  given  them,  for  they  must 


206  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

be  sustained,  and  if  this  can  not  be  done  death  is  in- 
evitable. Let  nitrate  of  potash,  an  ounce  to  the 
gallon,  be  dissolved  in  the  slops  or  water,  and  compel 
them  to  eat  or  drink  it  before  they  are  allowed  any- 
more. They  should  not  be  allowed  to  crowd  together 
in  large  numbers,  and  their  pens  or  houses  should  be 
well  ventilated,  and  they  should  be  so  arranged  as  to 
carry  off  the  urine.  If  these  matters  are  promptly 
attended  to,  a  few  days,  and  sometimes  a  few  hours, 
will  suffice  to  show  an  improvement  in  their  con- 
dition. 

In  order  to  present  this  matter  plainly,  so  that 
there  can  be  no  possibility  of  being  mistaken,  let  us 
present  the  matter  in  a  little  different  form.  When 
the  early  symptoms,  the  importance  of  which  we 
have  tried  to  impress,  begin  to  show  themselves, 
the  question  will  of  necessity  arise.  What  can  have 
caused  the  disease?  And  we  will  suppose  a  farmer 
making  the  inquiry.  Now  we  propose  to  ask  him  a 
few  questions,  which  it  is  believed  will  assist  him  to 
a  conclusion. 

1.  Upon  what  have  your  hogs  been  fed? 
"Nothing  but  corn." 

2.  Was  the  corn  sound? 

"No,  not  exactly.  I  fed  the  nubbins  and  imper- 
fect corn,  and  in  fact  much  of  it  was  sour  and  rotten, 
but  I  thought  it  would  not  do  to  lose  it." 


TREATMENT  OF  CHOLERA.  207 

3.  Did  your  hogs  have  good,  warm  beds,  and  a 
house  or  shed  to  protect  them  from  the  cold? 

"Certainly  not.  They  were  allowed  the  liberty 
of  the  field  and  the  barn-yard,  and  made  their  beds 
where  they  chose." 

4.  Did  they  often  make  their  beds  in  the  old 
straw-stacks,  and  about  the  stables  in  the  manure- 
heaps  ? 

"Yes;  they  seemed  to  prefer  such  places  for  their 
beds,  and  I  thought  they  were  comfortable,  and  so 
let  them  alone." 

5.  Did  you  give  them  plenty  of  salt,  and  feed 
them  regularly? 

"Well,  no.  I  sometimes  forgot  to  salt  them,  and 
when  the  weather  was  very  disagreeable,  they  were 
occasionally  forgotten." 

6.  How  was  it  in  the  summer?  Had  they  a  run 
to  grass  and  water,  or  were  they  confined  to  dry, 
dusty  roads,  fields,  or  sheds  ? 

"Well,  my  grass  was  rather  poor,  and  they  got 
but  little;  and  water  was  rather  scarce,  and  they 
sometimes  actually  suffered  for  the  want  of  it;  but  it 
required  much  trouble  to  furnish  them  good,  pure 
water,  so  I  had  to  allow  them  to  run  to  a  very  filthy 
pond." 

7.  Did  your  hogs  have  cholera  last  year? 
"Yes,  but  I  saved  enough  for  breeders." 


208  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

8.  Did  the  parents  of  this  herd,  both  boar  and 
sows,  have  the  disease? 

"Yes;  and  the  boar  never  seemed  perfectly  well, 
and  after  a  while  dwindled  away  and  died.  The  sows 
seemed  to  have  fully  recovered." 

Any  one  who  has  seen  how  the  hog  is  managed  will 
acknowledge  the  justice  of  the  above,  and  in  some 
cases  the  truth  is  by  no  means  all  told.  Can  any  one 
be  astonished  that  hogs  should  die  of  cholera  thus 
treated?  Can  any  one  doubt,  after  what  has  been 
stated  in  regard  to  the  causes  producing  cholera,  that 
if  these  causes  should  be  removed,  which  it  will  be 
seen  can  easily  be  done,  that  the  disease  must  of 
necessity  disappear?  We  insist,  nay,  we  pray  the 
farmers  and  raisers  of  hogs  to  give  the  matter  a  trial. 

It  is  now  proposed  to  be  still  more  definite  in 
regard  to  the  means  to  be  employed  to  prevent  the 
disease. 

1.  Every  hog-raiser  should  have  a  good  shelter  for 
his  hogs  to  protect  them  in  winter  and  spring.  The 
size  of  this  house  or  shed  should  be  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  hogs  raised.  This  house  should  have 
a  plank  floor,  so  arranged  as  that  it  will  at  the  same 
time  serve  the  purpose  of  carrying  off  the  dung, 
urine,  and  waste  slops.  It  should  be  planked  up 
high  enough  to  protect  the  hogs  from  the  cold  winds, 
leaving  space  above  sufficient  to  insure  full  and  free 


TREATMENT  OF  CHOLERA.  209 

ventilation.  In  the  winter  the  animals  should  be  sup- 
plied with  straw  or  other  suitable  material  to  make 
beds  of. 

2.  If  lice  infest  the  herd  they  should  be  destroyed. 
For  this  purpose  take  of  sulphur  or  tobacco-juice  and 
lard  a  sufficient  quantity,  mix  well  together,  and  with 
a  mop  or  brush  give  the  animals  a  good  greasing. 
Make  them  move  about  the  house  and  climb  over 
each  other;  in  this  way  the  medicine  will  be  thor- 
oughly applied  in  a  very  short  time,  and  with  very 
little  trouble.  This  simple  means  has  in  our  hands 
been  sufficient  to  kill  these  vermin,  and  not  only 
that,  but  also  cure  mange.  This  operation  should  be 
repeated  as  often  as  it  is  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
object.  The  presence  of  these  vermin  not  only  act 
as  an  irritant  to  the  skin,  but  also  indicate  a  dis- 
eased or  debilitated  state  of  the  system. 

3.  The  next  thing  to  be  attended  to  is  the  state  of 
the  bowels.  In  many  cases  there  are  worms  in  great 
numbers  infesting  the  intestinal  canal;  these  must 
be  expelled,  and  such  feed  given  as  is  best  calculated 
to  improve  the  general  health  of  the  animal.  For 
this  purpose  a  very  simple  and  cheap,  and  at  the 
same  time  efficient,  remedy  is  the  following:  Take 
of  corn-meal  and  wheat-bran  equal  parts,  boil  them 
together  till  thoroughly  cooked,  then  add  salt,  soft- 
soap — made  in  the  ordinary  way  from  wood-ashes — 

18 


210  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

and  powdered  sulphur,  and  a  little  copperas  (sulphate 
of  iron),  and  mix  the  whole  together  by  rapidly 
stirring  them.  Let  this  be  the  only  food  given  them. 
This,  if  persevered  in  for  a  few  days,  will  act  upon 
the  bowels,  and  if  there  are  any  worms  they  will  be 
expelled.  Charcoal  in  abundance  should  be  given,  as 
it  will  absorb  the  gases  and  correct  any  unhealthy 
secretion,  and  is  an  excellent  disinfectant.  If  the 
charcoal  can  not  be  obtained,  stone-coal  will  answer 
the  purpose.  If  farmers  will  take  the  trouble  to  have 
the  slops  from  the  kitchen  and  dairy  and  the  suds 
from  the  wash-house  put  into  a  vessel,  and  to  this 
add  a  little  meal  or  bran,  and  some  wood-ashes  or 
soda,  and  give  this  to  his  hogs  two  or  three  times  a 
week,  it  will  be  found  an  excellent  addition  to  the 
means  already  suggested.  By  attention  to  the  above 
suggestions  the  bowels  will  be  kept  regular,  the 
digestion  improved,  and  the  general  health  of  the 
hog  invigorated. 

But  in  order  to  make  this  branch  of  the  subject  as 
complete  as  possible,  we  propose  giving  some  space 
to  the  views  of  several  writers  on  this  matter  of 
treatment,  but  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  in- 
dorsing their  views  or  the  recipes  given,  except 
when  the  fact  is  mentioned. 

As  a  preventive.  Dr.  J.  Wallace,  in  the  "Prairie 
Farmer"  for  July,  1859,  advises  giving  from  five  to 


TREATMENT  OF  CHOLERA.  211 

ten  grains  of  calomel  to  each  hog  two  or  three  times 
a  week  during  the  prevalence  of  the  disease.  The 
reason  for  the  use  of  this  remedy  does  not  seem  very 
plain  to  the  writer  of  this. 

A  writer  in  the  "Country  Gentleman"  has  found  a 
drench  of  alum-water  very  effective. 

Professor  J.  B.  Tanner  has  communicated  the  fol- 
lowing cure,  which  he  has  found  very  effectual: 
ashes,  1  peck;  salt,  4  lbs.;  black  antimony,  1  lb.; 
copperas,  7  lbs.;  sulphur,  1  lb.;  saltpeter,  i  lb. 
Pound  these  ingredients  very  fine,  and  mix  them 
well,  and  keep  some  of  it  in  a  trough  by  itself,  and 
each  hog  will  eat  what  he  needs  of  the  medicine 
from  day  to  day;  if  predisposed  to  cholera  they  wdll 
eat  it  much  more  freely  than  if  wholly  well.  If 
through  any  cause  a  hog  gets  down,  pour  down  him, 
or  in  some  way  get  him  to  drink,  in  slop,  one  gill  of 
coal-oil  per  day. 

Another  writer  recommends  cutting  off  the  hog's 
tail,  and  giving  him  an  injection  of  strong  soap-suds. 
This  last  is  almost  absurd. 

A  writer,  of  Winchester,  Tennessee,  believes  that 
if  the  hogs  can  be  kept  free  from  lice  they  will  not 
suffer  from  cholera,  and  he  is  convinced  that  sulphur 
given  internally  and  rubbed  on  externally  will  cure 
them  of  the  pests.  He  gives  the  following:  Sulphur, 
two  table-spoonfuls ;    same  quantity  of  sulphate  of 


212  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

iron  (copperas) ;  and  one  pint  each  of  ashes  and  com- 
mon salt;  mix  them  well,  and  give  a  small  portion 
twice  a  week.  In  addition  to  this,  burn  their  beds, 
so  that  the  vermin  may  be  destroyed.  Keep  them 
free  from  dust,  etc. 

Arsenic,  blue-stone  (sulphate  copper),  and  poke 
root  have  their  advocates.  These  medicines  are 
poisonous,  and  should  be  used  with  caution.  Mad- 
der, black  sulphuret  of  antimony,  and  nitrate  of 
potash  is  a  very  common  compound,  and  in  some 
localities  has  gained  much  reputation.  The  alkalies 
in  the  form  of  potash  and  soda  are  used  by  almost 
every  one,  and  indeed  much  good  may  be  done  by 
them.  They  act  upon  the  skin  and  kidneys,  correct 
acidity  of  the  stomach  and  bowels,  and  in  these 
several  ways  assist  nature  to  throw  off  the  poison  in 
the  blood. 

The  following  is  a  very  good  mixture,  first  sug- 
gested by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sherrard,  of  Ohio,  and  may  be 
used  with  much  benefit:  Epsom  salts,  1  lb.;  pow- 
dered sulphur,  ^  lb.;  powdered  copperas,  h  lb.; 
tartarized  antimony,  5  ounces.  Mix  all  together, 
and  give  each  affected  hog  one  tea-spoonful  once  a 
day  for  a  week,  then  leave  off  a  week,  and  another 
week  give  the  medicine,  and  so  on  alternately  as 
long  as  may  be  necessary.  This  compound  allays 
fever,  and  acts  upon  the  bowels  and  skin,  and  relieves 


TREATMENT  OF  CHOLERA.  213 

inflammation.  Care  should  be  taken  in  giving  these 
medicines.  It  is  best  to  begin  with  small  doses,  and 
gradually  increase  till  the  animal  can  bear  the  largest 
dose.  Some  authors  advise  bleeding.  This  might 
in  some  cases  be  of  service  in  the  early  stage,  but  it 
is  troublesome,  and  of  questionable  propriety.  Let  it 
he  kept  in  mind  that  the  all-important  matter  is  to  look 
to  prevention,  and  not  to  medicines,  if  success  would  be 
looked  for. 


214  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

DISEASED    MEATS. 

Injurious  to  man — Effect  upon  dogs  from  eating  it — How  diseased  meat 
may  be  detected — Cysticercus;  how  known;  produce  tape-worm  in 
man. 

<i 

It  is  self-evident  that  the  health  of  the  individual 
depends  greatly  upon  the  quality  of  the  food  taken 
into  the  stomach,  whether  it  be  of  animal  or  vege- 
table matter.  There  can  be  no  question  that  imper- 
fect and  decaying  vegetable  matter  is  injurious  to 
health.  Why  may  not  diseased  animal  food  also  be 
deleterious?  The  author  is  aware  that  the  opinion 
is  entertained  that  animal  food  undergoing  decompo- 
sition is  not  only  not  injurious  to  health,  but  is  much 
more  easy  of  digestion  than  the  perfectly  fresh,  un- 
tainted flesh.  It  is  the  habit,  particularly  of  the 
French,  to  allow  fowls,  game,  etc.,  to  become  some- 
what tainted  before  cooking  it,  and  it  is  contended 
that  it  is  promotive  of  digestion,  and  consequently 
of  health.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  not  the  object  to 
discuss  the  matter  here. 


DISEASED  MEATS.  215 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  author  to  set  forth,  as 
clearly  as  he  is  able  to  do,  the  character  and  appear- 
ance of  diseased  meat.  This,  of  course,  must  have 
existed  before  the  death  of  the  animal.  Now  it  is 
certain  that  diseased  vegetables  often  produce  inju- 
rious effects — as,  for  example,  spurred  rye,  or  blasted 
rye — and  it  is  believed  to  be  equally  true  that  dis- 
eased animal  food  will  produce  like  results,  and  that 
this  is  especially  true  of  the  flesh  of  the  hog. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine,  for  the  want  of  a  suffi- 
cient number  and  variety  of  experiments,  what  effect 
diseased  flesh  produces  upon  those  who  have  eaten 
of  it;  this  is  a  question  for  the  medical  profession  to 
determine,  and  it  is  a  matter  worthy  the  attention  of 
scientific  men.  Certain  it  is  that  few  persons  would 
be  willing  to  eat  diseased  flesh  if  it  were  known  to 
be  such;  and  aside  from  the  disgust  necessarily  cre- 
ated by  such  an  act,  none  would  be  willing  to  run  the 
risk  of  becoming  diseased  by  it.  It  is  certain  that 
hogs  are  the  subjects  of  tubercle,  or  consumption; 
might  there  not  be  danger  of  introducing  some  of 
this  tubercular  matter  into  the  system  by  eating  the 
flesh  of  hogs  affected  by  this  disease,  and  thus  the 
blood  become  poisoned  by  the  morbid  material,  and 
produce  a  disease  similar  to  that  of  the  diseased 
animal? 

Numerous  cases  of  disease  and  even  death  have 


216  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

from  time  to  time  been  reported  from  eating  the  flesh 
of  hogs^  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  our  low 
forms  of  fever  and  diseases  depending  upon  a  poison 
of  the  blood  for  their  cause,  such  as  erysipelas,  car- 
buncle, etc.,  are  due  to  eating  diseased  meat.  So 
well  convinced  are  the  municipal  authorities  of  many 
of  the  large  cities  of  Europe  of  this  fact,  that  scien- 
tific men  are  appointed  whose  duty  it  is  to  examine, 
as  far  as  practicable,  all  meats  brought  to  market, 
that  diseased  meats  may  be  excluded  and  guilty 
parties  punished.  But  we  are  not  without  facts  to 
sustain  the  views  here  entertained.  The  following 
circumstance  was  furnished  by  a  very  intelligent 
farmer  of  Shelby  County,  Kentucky,  and  is  perfectly 
reliable.     Colonel  J.  Allen  says : 

"  The  following  fact  may  be  of  service  to  you :  In 
the  fall  of  the  year  1858  Mr.  Thomas  Long,  a  well- 
known  farmer  of  Shelby  County,  Kentucky,  had  a 
lot  of  fat  hogs  attacked  with  cholera,  and  many  of 
them  died.  A  few  of  the  dead  hogs  were  dressed 
and  salted,  and  put  away  for  soap-making.  Some 
time  in  February,  1859,  this  meat  was  made  into 
soap,  except  the  muscle  or  lean  part,  which  was 
thrown  aside.  Some  dogs,  six  in  number,  ate  heart- 
ily of  it,  and  in  forty-eight  hours  thereafter  were  all 
dead.  No  other  cause  could  be  found  to  account  for 
the  killing  of  these  dogs,  and  the  conclusion  was 


DISEASED  MEATS.  217 

that  the   eating  of  this   diseased  meat  had  caused 
their  death." 

To  the  same  effect,  George  Sutton,  M.  D.,  of 
Aurora,  Indiana,  in  an  able  article  on  hog  cholera, 
in  the  North  American  Medico-Chirurgical  Review, 
May,  1858,  says  in  regard  to  eating  the  flesh  of  hogs 
that  had  died  of  cholera : 

^'I  have  also  seen  notices  in  the  public  papers  in 

this  state  of  persons  supposed  to  have  been  made 

sick  by  eating  this  diseased  meat.     Independent  of 

the  disgust  arising  from  the  idea  of  eating  flesh  of 

diseased  animals,  what  effect  would  this  meat  have 

on  health?     The  following  facts  may  probably  be  of 

some  interest  on  this  subject.     A  dog  belonging  to 

Mr.  Wm.  Rickets,  of  Aurora,  was  chained  to  the  pens 

at  the   distillery,  and  fed  on  diseased  meat.      He 

continued  healthy  and  grew  fat  until  the  sixth  week, 

when    he    became    unwell,    vomited    frequently    a 

greenish-looking  mucus,  and  died  on  the  third  day 

from  the  time  he  first  showed  symptoms  of  disease. 

Two   more  dogs,  both  belonging  to  Mr.  Wolf  Den- 

derline,  of  Aurora,  were  also  chained  near  the  pens 

and  fed  on  diseased  meat.     One  continued  healthy 

until  the  fifth  week,  when  he  became  unwell,  refused 

to  eat,  vomited  also  a  greenish  fluid,  had  diarrhea, 

and  died  on  the  sixth  day  from  the  time   he  was 

taken  unwell.     The  other  dog  continued  well  until 

10 


218  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

the  fourth  week,  when  he  was  attacked  with  vomit- 
ing— ^no  diarrhea  was  observed — and  on  the  third  day- 
after  he  died.  Two  more  dogs,  belonging  to  Mr.  John 
Buffington,  were  chained  at  the  pens  and  fed  on  dis- 
eased meat.  One  of  them  died  in  the  third  week, 
with  similar  symptoms  to  the  first  mentioned.  The 
other  became  unwell  in  the  fourth  week.  The  owner, 
thinking  that  he  was  going  to  die,  had  him  removed 
and  fed  on  different  food.  He  gradually  recovered, 
though  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  could  walk  for 
more  than  a  month  afterward. 

"At  first  I  was  inclined  to  believe  that  the  con- 
sumption of  this  meat  would  not  be  directly  injurious, 
but  from  the  efi*ects  which  we  have  witnessed  upon 
these  dogs  it  appears  highly  probable  that,  used  as 
an  article  of  food,  this  meat  may  gradually  produce 
in  the  human  system  diseases  the  source  of  which 
would  scarcely  be  suspected." 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  facts,  would  it  not  be  wise 
to  give  attention  to  this  matter?  Certainly  too  little 
care  has  been  exercised  in  regard  to  it.  It  becomes 
still  more  important  in  view  of  the  fact  that  some 
farmers  and  butchers  are  not  too  conscientious  to  sell 
meat  in  the  market  which  they  know  to  have  been 
diseased,  simply  for  gain.  The  author  is  satisfied 
that  much  of  the  meat  sold  in  our  large  cities  is  in- 
fected in  some  way  or  other  with  disease. 


DISEASED  MEATS.  219 

It  must  be  remembered,  as  has  been  shown  else- 
where in  this  volume,  that  hogs  grow  fat  even  while 
laboring  under  the  effects  of  disease,  and  the  butcher 
may  not  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  he  is  offering  the 
flesh  of  a  diseased  hog  for  sale.  Yet  this  fact  may 
be  known  by  an  expert;  not,  however,  in  all  cases, 
but  in  those  cases  most  likely  to  do  mischief.  The 
reader  is  referred  to  the  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters 
of  this  work,  and  earnestly  requested  to  read  and 
study  them  carefully,  in  order  to  see  how  hogs  may 
be  and  frequently  are  diseased,  and  yet  grow  fat.  It 
is  a  matter  of  sorrow  and  surprise  that  animals  thus 
diseased  should  be  sold  for  food,  and  yet  such  is  too 
often  the  case.  Ignorance  and  greed  are  at  the  bot- 
tom of  great  mischief. 

There  are  certain  qualities  belonging  to  healthy 
meats  which  must  first  of  all  be  understood  before  it 
can  be  determined  that  there  is  any  departure  from 
health.  The  following  article  from  the  British  Medi- 
cal Journal,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Leathery,  which  is 
so  clear  and  concise  that  the  author  believes  he  can 
not  do  better  than  to  insert  it  in  this  place. 

"Dr.  Leathery,  who  has  had  great  special  experi- 
ence during  several  years  in  the  city  of  London, 
describes  the  following  as  the  characters  of  good 
meat: 

"1.  It  is  neither  of  a  pale  pink  color  nor  of  a  deep 


220  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG 

purple  tint;  for  the  former  is  a  sign  of  disease,  and 
the  latter  indicates  that  the  animal  has  not  been 
slaughtered,  but  has  died  with  the  blood  in  it,  or 
has  suffered  from  acute  fever. 

"1.  It  has  a  marbled  appearance  from  the  ramifi- 
cations of  little  veins  of  fat  among  the  muscles. 

"3.  It  should  be  firm  and  elastic  to  the  touch,  and 
should  scarcely  moisten  the  fingers — bad  meat  being 
wet,  and  sodden,  and  flabby,  with  fat  looking  like 
jelly,  or  wet  parchment. 

"•Ai,  It  should  have  little  or  no  odor,  and  the  odor 
should  not  be  disagreeable;  for  diseased  meat  has  a 
sickly,  cadaverous  smell,  and  sometimes  a  smell  of 
physic.  This  is  very  discoverable  when  the  meat  is 
chopped  up  and  drenched  with  warm  water. 

"5.  It  should  not  shrink  or  waste  much  in  cooking. 

"6.  It  should  not  run  to  water,  or  become  very  wet 
on  standing  for  a  day  or  so;  but  should,  on  the  con- 
trary, dry  upon  the  surface. 

"7.  When  dried  at  a  temperature  of  212°,  or 
thereabout,  it  should  not  lose  more  than  from  seventy 
to  seventy-four  per  cent,  of  its  weight;  whereas  bad 
meat  wiU  often  lose  as  much  as  eighty  per  cent. 

"  Other  properties  of  a  more  refined  character  will 
also  serve  for  the  recognition  of  bad  meat,  as  that  the 
juice  of  the  flesh  is  alkahne,  or  neutral  to  test-paper, 
instead  of  being  distinctly  acid;  and  the  muscular 


DISEASED  MEATS.  .  221 

fiber^  when  examined  under  the  microscope,  is  found 
to  be  sodden  and  ill-fed." 

Parasites  are  sometimes  found  in  the  flesh  of  fat 
hogs,  particularly  the  muscles,  such  as  the  '' trichina 
spiralis''  and  the  cysticercus  cellulosce^  either  of  which, 
if  taken  into  the  stomach,  will  develop  these  animals, 
and  thus  the  trichina  disease  and  the  tape-worm  will 
be  the  result.  The  trichinae  can  not  be  detected  by 
the  naked  eye  in  the  muscles,  or  at  least  rarely  so; 
occasionally,  however,  Httle  whitish  spots  may  be 
seen  by  a  sharp,  experienced  eye,  and  when  so  ob- 
served, the  meat  containing  them  ought  to  be  rejected 
as  food  till  the  flesh  is  submitted  to  careful  examina- 
tion by  the  microscope,  by  which  means  the  matter 
is  made  certain.  In  the  case  of  the  cysticercus  cellu- 
losce  it  is  not  very  difficult  to  detect  their  presence. 
Little  round  white  sacs  or  cysts  are  observed  in 
clusters;  they  are  sufficiently  large  to  be  easily  seen 
by  the  naked  eye,  and  are  found  in  the  muscles 
between  the  fibers,  and  sometimes  in  great  numbers. 
These  sacs  contain  the  animal,  and  when  taken  into 
the  stomach  are  rapidly  hatched,  and  are  soon  large 
enough  to  fasten  their  ugly  heads  into  the  walls  of 
the  bowels,  and  grow  rapidly;  hence  doubtless  origi- 
nate many  cases  of  tape-worm  in  the  human  subject. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1870  a  very  interest- 
ing case  occurred  in  the  city  of  Louisville,  Kentucky. 


222  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG, 

The  little  white  lumps  were  found  in  a  fat  hog  sold  by 
a  farmer  to  a  dealer  in  the  city,  and  he  (the  dealer) 
sold  the  hog  to  a  green-grocer,  to  be  again  sold  to 
the  consumers.  When,  however,  the  little  white  sacs 
were  seen,  a  panic  was  created  under  the  belief  that 
it  was  trichinous  pork.  The  following  account  of  the 
matter  will  show  the  facts  in  the  case : 

"  The  hog,  to  all  outward  appearances,  was  perfectly 
healthy,  the  fat  clear  and  white,  and  the  lean  firm 
and  of  a  healthy  color.  Upon  cutting  into  the  lean 
portions  of  the  meat  hundreds  of  small  cysts  or  cells 
were  found,  containing  a  semi-transparent  fluid,  in 
the  center  of  which  was  a  white,  pearly-looking  cell, 
which,  upon  being  opened,  revealed,  with  the  aid  of 
a  microscope,  what  was  thought  to  be  the  dreaded 
trichina  spiralis  in  countless  numbers. 

"A  piece  of  the  meat  was  submitted  to  Professor 
Jenkins,  who,  after  a  most  careful  examination,  makes 
the  following  report: 

"Louisville,  January  24,  1870. 
"Messrs.  H.  Wedekind  &  Co.: 

"I  have  examined  two  specimens  of  pork  which 
you  left  with  me  on  Saturday  last. 

"  The  piece  which  you  designated  as  being  a  por- 
tion of  a  hog  sold  to  Mr.  Miles,  on  Twenty-sixth 
Street,  I  find  to  be  good  in  every  respect. 

^'  The  other  piece,  which  you  stated  was  a  part  of 


DISEASED  MEATS.  223 

the  animal  sold  to  a  green-grocer,  on  Market  Street, 
between  Eleventh  and  Twelfth,  is  not  good.  The 
muscular  parts  are  filled  with  innumerable  parasites, 
characteristic  of  one  form  of  ^measly  pork.'  These 
parasites  are  known  by  the  term  c7/sticercus  cellulosce, 
a  being  which,  in  its  last  and  perfect  stage  of  exist- 
ence, is  the  taenia  solium  or  tape-worm. 

"This  parasite  in  the  state  of  ei/sticercus  cellulosce 
does  not  generally  give  rise  to  much  inconvenience 
to  the  animal  infested  with  it,  except  it  gets  into 
the  muscular  structure  of  the  heart;  the  voluntary 
muscles  of  the  whole  body  may  be  filled  with  them, 
and  no  external  appearances  or  symptoms  will  indi- 
cate their  presence.  But  when  flesh  so  infested  is 
swallowed  in  a  raw  or  partially-cooked  state,  the 
animal  into  whose  stomach  such  meat  is  taken  will 
surely  be  infested  with  a  colony  of  tape-worms.  For 
this  reason  such  meat  as  this  is  extremely  dangerous 
in  a  community  where  thorough  cooking  is  not  the 
universal  rule,  since  a  living  cysticercus  cell  is  sure  to 
be  developed  into  a  tape-worm  when  it  reaches  the 
stomach  of  a  warm-blooded  animal,  especially  of  man. 
There  is  but  one  safeguard  against  them  with  pork- 
eaters— that  is  thorough  cooking  of  every  species  of 
food  into  which  pork  enters. 

"In  reply  to  your  query  as  to  the  presence  of 
trichina  in  this  pork,  I  have  to  say  that,  after  a  very 


224  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

close  and  lengthy  microscopical  investigation  of  vari- 
ous portions  of  the  meat,  I  have  found  none,  and, 
according  to  authorities  on  this  subject,  where  they 
occur  at  all  they  occur  in  vast  numbers.  I  therefore 
infer  that  there  are  none  in  this  meat. 

"Yours  respectfully,         Thos.  E.  Jenkins, 

Chemist  and  Microscopist."  * 

Thus,  of  course,  if  the  appearances  above  given 
are  noticed,  no  one  in  his  senses  would  think  of 
allowing  such  flesh  to  be  eaten  by  his  family.  True, 
the  results  mentioned — viz.,  the  development  of  ta]pe- 
worm  in  the  alimentary  canal — may  be  prevented  by 
''thorough  cooking f  yet  it  must  be  regarded  as 
hazardous  even  when  thoroughly  cooked,  since  a 
stray  sac  might  find  its  way  into  the  stomach 
which  had  not  been  killed  by  the  cooking. 

Let  it  be  treasured  up  in  the  mind  of  the  reader 
that — 

1.  If  the  flesh  he  is  about  to  buy  has  a  dark  red 
or  purple  appearance,  or  when  it  has,  in  addition  to 
this,  a  granulated  look,  it  ought  to  be  rejected. 

2.  When  the  meat  has  an  oily  look  and  feel  after 
cooking,  it  will  be  safest  to  reject  it. 

3.  If  when  cutting  up  the  hog  tumors  and  little 
abscesses  are  seen,  it  ought  not  to  be  eaten. 

*  Louisville  Courier-Journal. 


DISEASED  MEATS.  225 

4.  If  the  flesh  is  alkaline  or  neutral  to  test-paper, 
instead  of  being  distinctly  acid,  it  would  be  best  to 
let  it  alone. 

5.  If  the  purchaser  should  have  an  opportunity 
of  examining  the  lungs  of  the  slaughtered  animal, 
and  should  find  lumps,  or  tubercles,  or  ulcers,  or 
cavities,  reject  such  pork. 

6.  "Measly  pork,"  which  is  very  unhealthy,  may 
be  known  by  observing  purple  spots  or  eruptions  on 
the  skin,  which  are  plainly  visible.  They  impart  a 
peculiar  appearance  to  the  grain  of  the  meat,  with 
fading  of  its  color  and  distension  of  the  fiber,  so  as 
to  give  the  appearance  similar  to  that  which  might 
be  produced  by  puncturing  the  flesh. 

Finally,  let  all  meats,  especially  hog  meat,  be  com- 
pletely and  thoroughly  cooked  before  eating  it,  for 
even  with  the  greatest  care  you  may  fail  to  detect  dis- 
ease, and  may  fail  to  detect  the  parasites  mentioned, 
and  it  may  be  that  thorough  cooking  may  destroy  all 
deleterious  qualities;  at  all  events  it  is  the  only 
thing  that  can  in  any  way  do  it. 

The  author  is  satisfied  that  altogether  too  little  at- 
tention has  hitherto  been  given  to  this  important  mat- 
ter; and  that,  in  consequence  of  ignorance  in  regard 
to  the  matters  contained  in  this  chapter,  many  cases  of 
disease  and  death  have  resulted.  The  writer  believes 
that  in  all  our  large  cities  in  particular,  skillful  men, 


226  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

men  of  science,  should  be  employed  to  give  their 
entire  attention  to  the  examination  of  meats  offered 
in  the  markets  for  sale,  and  especially  should  this  be 
done  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  class,  who  are  often 
compelled  to  buy  inferior,  cheap  meats,  and  who  are 
much  more  likely  to  be  imposed  upon  than  the  rich. 
The  author  feels  that  if  his  suggestions  serve  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  the  subject  which  shall  lead  to 
a  thorough  investigation  of  it,  that  it  must  result  in 
good  to  all  concerned. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  227 


CHAPTER   XV. 

TRICHINA    SPIRALIS. 

Its  history — Its  effect  upon  animals  and  man — Where  found — Its  propa- 
gation. 

Within  a  few  years  past  this  little  parasite  has 
demanded  and  received  much  attention  both  in  this 
country  and  Europe,  particularly  in  Germany,  where 
trichinous  swine's  flesh,  eaten  in  a  partially-cooked  or 
raw  state,  caused  the  death  of  many  persons.  Long 
before  this,  however,  microscopists  had  discovered 
and  accurately  described  them. 

Thirty  years  ago  Hilton,  an  English  anatomist, 
discovered  them.  Hilton  seems  to  have  been  the 
first  to  investigate  them.  He  supposed  them  to  be 
animal  structures,  but  did  not  at  once  recognize  the 
worm  they  contained. 

In  1835  the  celebrated  zoologist  Owen  described 
this  worm,  and  gave  it  the  name  trichina  spiralis. 
This  name  was  given  it  in  consequence  of  its  body 
being  small   as  a  hair  and  curled  up  spirally.     A 


228  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

number  of  other  observers  in  England,  France,  Ger- 
many, Denmark,  and  America  announced  the  fact  that 
the  capsules  or  little  white  bodies  seen  in  the  muscles 
of  animals  contained  trichina.  In  animals  the  ob- 
served cases  were  very  few.  They  were  found  in 
the  cat,  crows,  blackbirds,  hawks,  and  other  birds, 
as  well  as  in  moles  and  pigs.     (Virchow.) 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  trichina  is  ex- 
ceedingly minute.  "If  we  bring,"  says  Virchow, 
"the  trichina,  the  body  of  which  is  curled  up,  and 
therefore  occupying  its  least  space,  in  a  drop  of  water 
on  a  plate  of  glass,  and  place  this  on  a  black  surface, 
we  see  a  whitish  point;  more  can  not  be  seen,  and 
therefore  it  is  impossible  to  recognize  that  this  point 
is  an  animal." 

Frequently  the  animal  in  the  muscle  is  inclosed  in 
a  peculiar  capsule,  a  kind  of  sac  without  opening, 
a  so-called  cyst.  This  capsule  has  frequently  a  con- 
siderable size  and  thickness.  So  long  as  it  is  tender 
and  not  fuUy  developed,  the  naked  eye  can  scarcely 
see  it.  If  it  becomes  more  developed,  and  increases 
in  density  and  thickness,  and  lime-salts  are  deposited 
in  it,  it  presents  more  obstacles  to  the  transmission 
of  light,  becomes  opaque,  and  appears  as  a  small, 
whitish  body. 

Although  observers  disagreed  among  themselves 
whether  the  capsule  which  envelops  the  animal  is. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  229 

either  mostly  or  in  part,  a  part  of  the  animal,  it  was 
taken  for  granted  to  consider  the  whole  as  one,  and 
pronounce  only  such  meat  as  containing  trichina  in 
which  the  whitish  bodies  could  be  observed  with  the 
naked  eye.  This  conception  could  only  be  correct 
provided  that  the  capsule  was  an  egg-shell,  for  if  the 
animals  had  developed  from  eggs  in  the  spot  where 
they  were  found,  of  course  the  capsule  must  have 
existed  from  the  beginning.  This  was,  however,  in 
a  high  degree  improbable.  Later  it  has  been  ascer- 
tained by  a  more  special  investigation  that  there  is 
no  question  of  an  egg  in  the  case. 

With  the  certainty  of  this  fact,  the  capsule  of 
course  has  another  significance.  Either  it  was  a 
secretion,  a  product  of  the  animal,  or  a  formation 
from  the  part  of  the  human  body  in  which  the 
animal  lodges.  There  was  in  its  history  a  time  when 
there  was  no  capsule,  and  the  animal  consequently 
was  free.  But  nobody  had  previously  seen  them 
free  in  the  human  body.  The  first  observation  of 
this  kind  was  made  by  Zencker,  of  Dresden,  in  a  case 
of  trichina  disease  which  resulted  in  death,  and 
which  has  since  become  of  great  importance. 

The  following  is  quoted  from  Virchow's  "Life  of 
the  Trichina." 

"We  now  know  that  a  considerable  time,  at  least 
two    months,   is    necessary  to    produce    a    complete 


230  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

capsule,  and  that  any  man  or  animal  who  lives  so 
long  that  the  trichina  in  them  becomes  inclosed  are 
nearly  past  all  danger.  We  may  therefore  safely  say 
that  all  observations  of  trichina  which  up  to  the  year 
1860  have  been  made  were  of  cured  cases. 

"It  is  therefore  easy  to  understand  that  more  and 
more  the  conviction  spread  that  the  trichina  was  a 
harmless  animal — a  mere  curiosity.  Practical  phy- 
sicians ceased  to  have  any  interest  in  it^  and  left  the 
anatomist  and  zoologist  to  pursue  the  subject  as  a 
purely  scientific  one. 

"Certainly,  however,  it  has  a  great  scientific  in- 
terest, and  to  this  circumstance  it  is  due  that  in  this 
case  the  old  saying  of  the  stone  that  the  builders 
rejected,  and  which  became  the  corner-stone,  was 
exemplified.  What  was  extraordinary  was,  where 
the  trichina  came  from,  and  how  it  came  into  the 
muscles  of  living  persons,  as  one  could  not  discover 
any  facts  which  pointed  to  propagation,  for  there 
was  neither  found  any  young,  eggs,  nor  developed 
genital  organs. 

"  Such  cases  had  been  easily  disposed  of  not  long 
ago  by  the  theory  that  there  existed  a  spontaneous 
generation  (epigenesis,  equivocal,  or  spontaneous  gen- 
eration) .  Among  the  people  generally,  as  well  as  a 
certain  number  of  investigators,  the  opinion  was  still 
held  that  from  certain  substances,  especially  from 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  231 

excrementitious  and  putrid  things,  living  animals  es- 
pecially, vermin  would  arise.  In  this  class  was 
included  the  intestinal  vermiculse,  because  it  was 
not  understood  how  they  arose  in  the  bodies  of 
living  animals,  if  they  had  not,  as  supposed,  been 
created  within  them.  Respecting  the  trichina  this 
idea  did  not  seem  so  far  wrong,  since  they  were  to 
all  appearance  entirely  sexless,  and  devoid  of  all 
qualities  which  the  course  of  generation  presup- 
poses. In  addition  is  the  circumstance  that  they  are 
found  in  immense  numbers,  for  in  some  cases  millions 
of  trichina  are  found  in  a  single  person.  Such  a 
number  of  any  other  kind  of  the  intestinal  entozoa 
have  never  been  found  in  any  one  person.  Was  it 
not  supposable  that  the  trichina  arose  from  some 
impurity  in  the  system  ? 

"The  trichina  in  these  relations  resembles  certain 
worms,  especially  the  cysticercus,  which  are  frequent 
in  pigs,  and  are  also  found  in  men.  The  cysticercus 
was  different  from  the  trichina  in  this ;  viz.,  that 
they  are  much  larger,  for  the  trichina,  even  if  the 
capsules  be  included,  form  only  a  small,  white  point 
or  thin  line.  The  cysticercus  attains  the  size  of  a 
pea,  and  sometimes  of  a  small  cherry  or  bean.  To 
mistake  one  for  the  other  is  not  possible  even  for  the 
inexperienced.  The  cysticercii  are  also  sexless;  they 
have  no  eggs,  and  are  often  found  in  great  numbers. 


232  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

They  are  inclosed  in  the  flesh,  and  are  in  many 
respects  like  the  trichina,  and  even  their  origin  by 
spontaneous  generation  seemed  the  most  probable. 
The  best  investigators  of  the  last  century,  especially 
the  distinguished  Pastor  Goetze,  of  Quedlinburg, 
noticed  that  the  cysticercus  had  a  great  likeness  of 
structure  with  the  head  of  the  tape-worm,  and  these 
investigators  had  the  two  in  one  genus,  that  of  the 
teniae.  Still  they  considered  them  to  be  species  of 
the  same  genus,  which  compared  with  each  other  as 
donkey  and  horse,  dog  and  wolf. 

"  Only  further  investigations  of  recent  times  led  to 
the  idea  that  the  relation  of  these  was  nearer,  and 
that  the  cysticercus  was  a  real  tape-worm,  developed 
under  different  conditions  from  the  latter.  But  the 
immediate  experience  of  Kuchenmeister,  from  actual 
experiment,  showed  that  this  conjecture  was  not 
wholly  true.  He  found  that  the  cysticercus  of  the 
muscle  when  it  is  eaten  develops  in  the  intestine  to 
a  tape-worm.  It  has  therefore  lived  for  a  time  in  the 
state  of  the  cysticercus,  and  subsequently  assumes 
that  of  the  tape-worm. 

"  The  question  is  how  the  worm  came  into  the  first 
state  and  into  the  muscle.  In  its  tape-worm  state  it 
produces  on  its  posterior  extremity,  by  growth  and 
casting  off,  new  beings,  of  which  each  of  itself  not 
only  contains  eggs,  but  even  produces  living  young. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  233 

These;  however,  leave  the  egg  state  only  after  they 
have  been  discharged  from  the  intestine,  and  thus, 
either  by  eating  or  drinking,  are  taken  into  the  body. 

"As  soon  as  they  enter  the  stomach  the  shell 
opens,  and  the  young,  then  microscopic,  animals  are 
freed,  pierce  the  intestinal  wall,  and  by  active  and 
passive  movements  reach  different  parts  of  the  body, 
and  there  develop  into  cysticercii.  This  is  a  long 
and  in  a  great  degree  chance  development.  *  The 
cysticercus  is  first  eaten  with  the  meat  containing  it, 
before  it  changes  into  a  tape-worm,  and  from  this  in 
its  single  parts  is  generated  eggs,  and  these  must 
again  be  taken  into  the  system  to  become  embodied 
in  the  flesh  and  developed  into  a  new  being.  It 
therefore  not  only  changes  location  several  times, 
but  a  change  of  generation  also  takes  place,  for 
every  member  of  the  tape-worm  is  a  representative 
of  a  different  generation. 

"With  these  experiences  the  old  doctrine  of  spon- 
taneous generation  of  the  intestinal  worms  was  shaken 
to  its  foundation.  If  even  so  large  animals  as  the 
cysticercus  are  produced  regularly  from  generation  to 
generation  from  eggs,  to  reach  by  peculiar  wanderings 
the  muscle  from  the  intestines,  it  was  easy  to  suppose 
that  something  similar  to  this  might  take  place  in  the 
case  of  the  trichina.     Certainty  was  only  to  be  had 

by  experiment. 

20 


234  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

"Herbst,  in  Goettingen,  was  the  first  to  institute 
such  experiments.  He  found  that  afterward  animals 
which  had  been  fed  with  meat  containing  trichina  had 
trichina  in  their  muscles.  His  experiments,  however, 
were  defective.  In  the  first  place  it  was  not  thereby 
determined  that  the  trichina  which  had  been  fed  were 
identical  with  those  found  in  human  beings.  In  the 
next  place  he  had  not  been  able  to  pursue  the  history 
of  the  case  between  the  time  when  the  trichina  en- 
tered the  stomach  and  that  when  they  were  found  in 
the  muscle. 

^^  Was  there  a  change  of  generation?  Were  the  tri- 
china in  the  intestine  changed  into  another  intestinal 
worm?  Did  they  produce  eggs?  Or  were  the  same 
trichina  which  had  been  eaten  found  in  the  muscle? 

*'More  experiments,  with  feeding  especially,  by 
Kuchenmeister  had  no  result,  but  he  supposed  that 
the  trichina  changed  in  the  intestine  to  another 
known  intestinal  worm,  the  tricocephalus,  and  that 
the  former  was  the  immature  state  of  the  latter. 

"This  conjecture  at  first  seemed  to  be  confirmed 
by  Leuckhart,  in  Giessen,  who  had  formerly  found, 
after  feeding  trichina  meat  to  mice,  free  trichina  in 
the  intestinal  mucus.  On  the  28th  of  September, 
1859,  he  communicated  to  the  Parisian  Academy  an 
account  that  he  had  succeeded  in  producing  tricoce- 
phalse  in  great  numbers  from  trichina. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  235 

"I  had  at  the  same  time  arrived  at  another  result. 
In  a  dog  fed  with  trichina  from  a  human  body,  which 
were  encapsuled,  I  found,  three  and  a  half  days  after 
feeding,  numerous  free  and  full-grown  trichina,  which 
had  attained  to  a  perfect  sexual  development.  I 
could  distinguish  male  and  female  animals,  and  in 
the  bodies  of  the  latter  I  found  numerous  eggs  and 
germ  cells. 

"On  the  1st  of  August,  1859, 1  made  my  first  com- 
munication on  the  subject  to  the  Medical  Society 
in  Berlin,  and  a  more  special  communication  in  my 
archives.  At  that  time  I  showed  that  the  capsule  in 
which  the  animal  was  found  in  the  flesh  was  nothing 
else  than  a  changed  muscular  fiber — a  deteriorated 
primitive  bundle,  and  therefore  the  animal  had  to 
enter  the  structure  of  the  flesh. 

"These  results  have  been  verified  by  subsequent 
experiments  of  feeding,  first  by  Leuckhart  and  my- 
self, and  also  by  Glaus  and  others.  Especially  the 
case,  already  mentioned,  observed  by  Zencker  in 
January,  1860,  gave  to  Leuckhart,  as  well  as  to 
myself,  new  material  for  experiment.  The  former 
reported  it  in  a  large  volume.  I  communicated  my 
later  experiences,  first  in  a  short  account  in  my 
archives,  and  again  in  a  longer  communication  to  the 
Paris  Academy.  The  main  result  of  our  experi- 
ments was  that  the  muscle  trichina  (muskel-trichina) 


236  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

given  in  meat  food  changed  in  the  intestine  only  in 
respect  to  growth  (darm- trichina),  and  produces  eggs 
and  living  young  in  itself,  and  that  these  living  young, 
without  leaving  the  animal,  immediately  pierce  the 
intestinal  wall,  penetrate  the  body,  and  lodge  es- 
pecially in  the  muscular  fibers,  and  then  become 
encapsuled,  to  remain  there  until  they  are  eaten. 

"The  case  of  the  trichina  is  in  one  particular  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  tape-worm  and  cysticercus. 
The  former  when  first  eaten  produces  a  new  brood, 
which  immediately  penetrates  the  body. 

"The  former  need  not  be  eaten  twice,  like  the 
latter,  to  produce  a  new  brood  that  penetrates  the 
body;  the  danger  is  therefore  much  greater  in  the 
case  of  the  former,  for  the  latter  never  endanger  life, 
while  we  know  a  number  of  cases  in  which  death 
has  been  caused  by  trichina.  In  other  respects  the 
muscle  trichina  and  the  cysticercus  resembled  each 
other  in  the  fact  that  not  the  same  animal  which  is 
eaten  penetrates  the  body,  but  the  new  brood  gen- 
erated in  the  intestine  enters  the  muscles. 

"After  this  general  review  of  the  development  of 
our  knowledge  of  the  trichina,  I  will  proceed  to  state 
the  main  particulars  more  precisely. 

"1.  How  do  we  recognize  the  trichina  in  the 
meat?  In  the  first  part  of  this  treatise  I  have 
shown  that  though  we   can   see  an  isolated  worm 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  237 

under  circumstances  already  mentioned,  the  trichina 
itself  can  not  be  seen  in  the  meat  with  the  naked 
eye,  and  that  what  we  can  so  see  are  only  the  cap- 
sules.   Let  us  therefore  consider  the  latter. 

"After  a  young  trichina  has  wormed  into  a  mus- 
cular fiber,  it  moves  on  apparently  for  a  certain 
distance.  In  this  process  it  breaks  the  finer  con- 
stituent parts  of  the  fiber,  and  by  this  probably 
partly  destroys  the  fiber.  But  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  even  devours  part  of  the  fiber.  It  has  a 
mouth,  oesophagus,  and  intestines,  and  in  the  course 
of  several  weeks  grows  to  thirty  or  more  times  its 
original  size.  Therefore  it  must  take  nourishment, 
and  can  not  obtain  this  elsewhere  than  from  the  ele- 
ments which  surround  it.  It  attacks  the  muscular 
substance,  and  at  the  same  time  irritates  the  sur- 
rounding parts.  To  understand  these  effects  one  has 
to  bear  in  mind  the  construction  of  the  muscles. 
Even  for  the  naked  eye,  muscular  flesh  consists  of 
small,  parallel  bundles  of  fibers,  held  together  by  a 
very  filmy  texture  (bindegewebe) .  Each  fasciculus 
can  be  separated,  by  fine  needles,  into  smaU  bundles, 
and  these  again  into  fibrillse.  Microscopically  it  is 
seen  that  even  the  single  fiber  is  a  structure.  Out- 
wardly it  has  a  structureless,  cylindrical  covering. 
Within  this  is  the  real  flesh  element,  which  consists 
of  smaU  granules,  which  are  lengthwise  in  the  form 


238  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

of  minute  fibers  (primitive  fibrillen) ,  and  breadthwise 
in  the  form  of  minute  disks  (fleischscheiben).  Be- 
tween them,  at  small  distances,  are  certain  parts  with 
kernels,  the  so-called  muscular  bodies  (muskelkor- 
perchen).  With  a  strong  magnifying  power  the 
single  fiber  shows  itself  as  a  very  complex  struc- 
ture, a  bunch  of  small  fibers  (primitive  fibillen) 
which  are  held  together  by  a  common  covering,  and 
this  is  the  reason  why  German  anatomists  have  given 
to  the  fiber  the  name  of  primitive  bunch. 

^'The  destructive  effect  of  the  trichina  is  mostly 
on  the  flesh  stuff  (fleischscheiben) ;  viz.,  the  primitive 
fibers  and  disks.  These  disappear  within  the  fiber, 
and  the  latter  shrinks  in  proportion.  The  irritating 
efi'ect  appears  most  on  the  covering,  and  on  the  mus- 
cular bodies,  particularly  the  kernels,  and  most 
strongly  on  that  part  the  animal  occupies.  The 
covering  thickens,  the  kernels  of  the  muscular  bodies 
increase;  these  bodies  also  grow,  and  between  them 
a  heavier  substance  is  deposited,  and  by  and  by  a 
denser  mass  forms  around  the  animal,  in  which  can 
be  seen  the  outer  covering  and  the  interior  enlarge- 
ment. The  more  the  animal  grows  the  more  it  rolls 
up,  curhng  in  its  extremities,  and  lies  like  a  spiral 
coil. 

"  Generally  this  spiral,  in  a  certain  part  of  its  cir- 
cumference, immediately  touches  t^  '^  ' 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS. 


239 


over  and  under  this  place  lies  the  mass  which  pro- 
ceeds from  the  enlargement  of  the  contents.  Where 
they  touch  the  capsule  it  is 
from  the  first  thicker  and 
less  transparent. 

"These    processes    take   J 
place   mainly  in  the  third 
or   fifth   week   after  their  J 
emigration.        From     that  m 
time    the    density    of    thef^: 
capsule  increases,  but  the  If 
inner    part   more    so    thanij 
the  covering.     The  middle  pi 
part  of  the  capsule,  where  pi 
the  coiled  animal  reposes,  g| 
under   a  moderate   magni-^| 
fying,  appears  as  a  clear,  mjl; 
egg-shaped   mass   (observe    1j^ 
the  figure  1),  in  which  the 
animal  is  distinctly  visible.  Figure  i. 

Above  and  beneath  this  spot  there  are  usually  found 
two  appendages,  which  appear  darker  by  transmitted 
light,  by  reflected  light  appear  whitish.  These  taper- 
ing appendages  have  rounded-off  ends.  Frequently 
they  resemble  in  form  the  inner  canthus  of  the  eye. 
These  appendages  differ  in  length,  and  sometimes  a 
similar  difference  in  length  exists  likewise  in  the  end 


240  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

of  the  same  capsule.  In  some  cases  these  appendages 
are  entirely  absent,  and  the  capsules  are  either  of  a 
simple  oval  form,  or  rounded  off  at  the  corner,  or  are 
indented. 

"  The  above  changes  require  a  lapse  of  months  for 
their  development.  If  such  meat  is  examined  with 
the  naked  eye,  nothing  peculiar  is  discoverable.  If 
a  small  particle  of  it  is  covered  with  acetic  acid  or 
potash,  by  which  addition  they  become  transparent, 
small,  whitish  opaque  points  on  the  ends  of  the  cap- 
sules are  visible.  But  if  these  are  few  in  number, 
they  are  not  so  characteristic  that  we  can,  without 
the  microscope,  recognize  the  dangerous  condition  of 
the  meat.  We  must  be  careful  to  guard  against 
mistakes.  Particles  of  fat  frequent  in  meat,  sections 
of  vessels,  nerves,  tendons,  and  parasitical  deposits 
may  present  the  same  appearance,  and  the  presence 
of  the  capsule  only  be  distinctly  seen  by  a  certain 
magnifying  power.  The  magnifying  power  need  not 
be  high.  With  a  power  of  ten  or  twelve  we  can 
readily  see  the  relation,  and  distinguish  both  the  cap- 
sule and  animal.  A  somewhat  higher  power,  as  50 
or  100,  is  however  more  desirable,  inasmuch  as  it 
precludes  the  liability  to  deception.  If  a  still  longer 
time  elapses  after  the  animal  has  migrated,  other 
changes  occur  in  the  capsules;  the  most  usual  of 
which  is  that   lime-salts    are    deposited,  when   the 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  241 

capsules  are  called  'chalky.'  Formerly  it  was  be- 
lieved that  the  animal  itself  changed  to  chalk,  but 
this  is  scarcely  ever  the  case.  Generally  this  change 
to  chalk  begins  in  the  thickened  interior,  while  the 
exterior  remains  unchanged.  The  lime-salts  appear 
as  very  minute  granules,  which  by  reflected  light 
appear  white,  and  Avith  transmitted  light  appear 
dark,  shady,  or  altogether  black,  and  if  the  lime 
increases  it  eventually  covers  the  whole  animal,  and 
we  can  not  distinguish  the  latter  under  the  micro- 
scope, even  if  it  be  entire.  It  is  then  encased  as  by 
an  egg-shell. 

"If  the  human  body  into  which  the  trichina  pene- 
trates is  well  nourished,  another  change  occurs. 
Around  the  capsule,  and  particularly  around  their 
appendages,  appear  fat-cells.  When  this  deposit  of 
fat  attains  a  certain  size  it  forms  around  the  capsule 
a  lump,  which  marks  the  location  of  the  capsule 
more  plainly  than  it  is  by  the  chalky  deposit,  for 
from  the  moment  the  former  attains  a  certain  mag- 
nitude the  capsule  is  visible  to  the  naked  eye  as  a 
white  spot,  and  this  is  the  condition  to  which  all  the 
earlier  observations  relate. 

"  In  figure  1  this  condition  of  a  human  muscle  is 

shown.     Upon  the  red   surface,  striped  lengthwise 

by  its  bundle  of  fibers,  as  it  appears  to  the  naked 

eye,  are  a  certain  number  of  globular  or  egg-shaped 

21 


242  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

points,  on  whicli,  by  very  careful  observation,  can  be 
distinguished  the  less  opaque  center,  indicating  the 
position  of  the  worm. 

"If  acetic  or  hydrochloric  acid  be  added  to  these 
white  points  they  nearly  disappear.  But  these  acids 
produce  precipitates  from  the  meat  juice,  and  cause 
the  entire  surface  of  the  meat  experimented  upon  to 
assume  an  indistinct  and  murky  appearance.  The 
best  plan  is  to  cut  out  small  particles  with  fine 
scissors,  teaze  them  out  with  fine  needles,  and  thus 
separate  the  capsule  from  the  meat  itself.  When  this 
is  done  on  a  plate  of  glass,  on  a  dark  surface,  one  can 
see  the  capsule  as  white  grains,  and  mark  the  dis- 
solving effect  of  the  acids. 

''This  mode  of  investigation  is  best  done  not  by 
the  naked  eye,  but  by  the  microscope;  nevertheless, 
to  those  who  are  experienced,  the  capsule  in  this 
chalky  state  is  so  characteristic  that  the  confounding 
it  with  other  appearances  is  impossible.  For  investi- 
gation of  meat  in  such  a  case  it  is  sufficient  to  care- 
fully examine  the  meat,  and  if  white  points  be 
noticed,  to  add  the  acids,  as  before  mentioned.  If 
they  are  nearly  dissolved  by  the  acids,  no  doubt 
remains.  If  they  remain  white,  it  is  probable  that 
they  are  particles  of  fat,  or  sections  of  nerve  fibers, 
or  similar  structures.  Nevertheless,  we  must  re- 
member that  lumps  of  fat  may  exist  near  the  chalk 


TEICHINA  SPIRALIS.  243 

capsules,  and  tliat  therefore  the  negative  success  of 
the  experiment  is  less  convincing  than  the  positive. 
This  is  especially  true  in  case  there  are  few  trichinae, 
because  these  are  generally  cured,  the  capsules  being 
chalked  and  closely  encased  in  deposits  of  fat.  More- 
over, the  whole  appearance  is  then  less  characteristic. 
It  is  self-evident  that  the  investigation  with  the  micro- 
scope alone  furnishes  a  sufficient  guarantee. 

"I  now  refer  to  a  peculiar  case.  Some  time  ago 
Meisner  found  in  most  of  the  muscles  of  the  mouse 
white  stripes,  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  which,  on 
microscopic  examination,  were  seen  to  be  cylindrical 
tubes,  each  of  which  contained  a  number  of  long, 
kidney-shaped  bodies,  of  which  it  was  doubtful 
whether  they  were  of  a  parasitical  nature,  or  formed 
a  disease  of  the  muscles. 

"Later,  Yon  Heszling  found  the  same  structures  in 
the  heart  of  the  deer,  and  also,  but  more  frequently, 
in  that  of  the  sheep.  Von  Siebold  and  BischofF  ob- 
served them  in  rats.  Lately  I  received  from  Messrs. 
Dr.  Grundler  and  Archidiaconus  Ad.  Schmidt,  of 
Ascherslaben*  pieces  of  pig's  flesh,  together  with 
drawings  representing  the  same  structures. 

"By  investigation  I  have  become  satisfied  that 
these  are  essentially  the  same  as  those  found  in 
the  heart  of  the  sheep,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that 
these    are    not   animal    products,    but   a   parasitical 


244  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

structure;  but  I  am  not  determined  whether,  as  Von 
Siebold  believes,  they  belong  to  the  vegetable  world, 
or  whether  they  are  animal  bodies.  They  bear  a 
near  resemblance  to  certain  forms  of  zoosperm. 
Certainly  the  tubes  which  contain  them  present  to 
the  naked  eye  an  appearance  very  similar  to  the 
capsules  of  the  trichina,  and  I  mention  them  here 
that  mistaking  them  for  the  latter  may  be  avoided. 

"Whether  they  are  dangerous  to  life  I  can  not 
decide  novf,  for  we  have  made  no  observations  about 
it.  Further  investigations  may  decide.  Suffice  it  to 
say  that  these  tubes  differ  from  the  trichina  in  this, 
that  they  have  never  been  found  encased  in  the  lime 
deposit,  and  that  the  capsule  does  not  pertain  to  the 
muscle,  and  that  they  do  not  contain  worms,  but  only 
the  minute  egg  or  kidney-shaped  bodies.  This  dis- 
covery shows  clearly  that  the  microscope  only  can 
determine  the  facts  in  any  investigation  of  meat. 

"Recurring  to  the  trichina,  if  we  wish  to  determine 
their  presence,  the  question  confronts  us,  Where  shall 
we  investigate — ^.  e..^  from  what  part  of  the  infested 
body  is  the  meat  for  examination  to  be  taken?  Even 
in  cases  of  slight  infestation  by  trichina  it  is  not  of 
serious  consequence  what  part  is  thus  selected  from, 
for  they  are  generally  found  in  all  the  muscles,  from 
the  smallest  to  the  largest;  from  those  of  the  trunk 
as  well  as  those  of  the  head  and  members.     One  set 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  245 

of  muscular  fibers  alone  is  an  exception — \dz.,  the 
heart.  Therefore  the  eating  of  this  last  can  be  done 
without  danger.  But  though  the  trichina  are  spread 
through  all  the  muscles,  yet  they  seem  to  be  more 
numerous  in  some  than  in  others.  These  are  the 
ends  of  the  muscles — i.  e.,  those  portions  where  the 
muscle  adjoins  the  tendons  and  the  bone. 

"All  we  have  said  hitherto  relates  only  to  the  en- 
capsuled  trichina,  which  are  already  encased  in  lime. 
But  how  shall  we  find  those  which  are  not  in  this 
state,  or  are  in  the  process  of  becoming  encapsuled? 

"Without  the  microscope  this  is  altogether  impos- 
sible. To  be  sure  I  have  seen  with  the  naked  eye  a 
full-grown,  free  trichina,  as  a  white  point,  but  whether 
this  point  was  an  animal  I  could  not  with  certainty 
affirm. 

"The  movements  of  a  free  trichina  are  scarcely 
recognizable.  It  never  amounts  to  a  change  of 
postm^e  of  its  entire  body.  In  unusual  conditions  it 
moves  slightly,  but  usually  this  consists  of  mere 
diminution  and  return  of  the  breadth  of  the  coil. 

"These  changes  of  movement  are  so  very  slight 
that  they  are  quite  invisible  to  the  naked  eye.  But 
if  the  animal  be  wholly  uncoiled  it  will  be  invisible, 
since  the  very  narrow,  transparent  body  interposes 
little  or  no  obstacle  to  the  perfect  transmission  of 
light. 


246  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

"  The  best  mode  of  proceeding  consists  in  cutting 
with  a  sharp  knife  a  small  bundle  of  meat,  putting 
this  on  a  clean  glass  plate,  add  a  drop  of  water, 
cover  it  with  a  very  thin  slip  of  glass,  pressed  down, 
and  bring  the  whole  under  the  microscope. 

"  We  now  speak  not  of  capsules,  but  of  the  trichina 
itself.     We  therefore  describe  the  animal." 

A  full-grown,  old  muscle  trichina,  as  shown  three 
handred  times  magnified,  is  a  round  worm  that  is 
similar  in  shape  to  a  rain-worm.  It  has  an  anterior 
pointed  end  in  which  is  the  mouth,  from  which  a 
narrow  tube  (the  oesophagus)  proceeds.  The  oesoph- 
agus is  surrounded  by  a  thick  body  of  cells,  which 
stretch  through  a  great  part  of  the  body,  and  end 
in  a  fine  intestine.  The  intestine  runs  to  the  posterior 
end,  where  it  terminates  in  an  orifice. 

The  trichina  is  therefore  a  fully-organized  animal 
of  the  class  worms,  the  inner  structure  of  which  can 
be  well  recognized  on  account  of  the  transparency 
of  its  skin.  But  of  course  this  can  only  be  done 
with  a  microscope  and  a  lens  of  300  diameters. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  no  species  of  maggot  has 
any  resemblance  to  it — especially  the  larvae  of  flies 
have  quite  a  different  shape,  and  are  a  great  deal 
larger;  and  if  ignorant  butchers  and  others  assert 
that  the  trichina  affair  was  that  of  harmless  maggots, 
it  is  only  a  sign  of  exceeding  ignorance  and  levity. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS. 


247 


These  animals  are  very  distinctly  male  and  female. 
The  following  cat^  from  the  pamphlet  of  Dr.  J.  B. 
Jackson^  shows  the  male  trichina  of  the  intestines. 
This  specimen  is  a  full-grown  male,  with  the  gen- 
erative organs  exhibited  at  the  tail,  magnified  150 
diameters. 

There  is  a  marked  difference  be- 
tween the  male  and  female.    Besides  A 
an  ahmentary  canal,  the  female  has 
an  additional  tube  opening  toward 
the  mouth,  which  latter  is  situated 
at  the  most  attenuated  end  of  the 
worm,  contrary  to  what  the    early 
observers   supposed.     This   tube  is 
the   receptacle   for  its  eggs,  which 
are  developed  in  her  previous  to  ex- 
trusion;   the   animal  is   viviparous, 
and  produces,  according  to  Yirchow, 
200,  to  Gerlach  400,  and  according 
to  Leuckhart  1,000  embryos.      The 
young  thus  born  are  without  sex. 
that  re-ingestion  by  the  stomach  or  bowels  is  neces- 
sary to  their  development,  for  if  they  remain  in  their 
encysted  state  they  ultimately  perish. 

The  following  cut  pretty  clearly  represents  one  of 
the  female  animals  full  of  eggs,  and  young  trichinae 
in  great  numbers  escaping  from  her  sexual  organs. 


Fig.  2. 
A,  head;     B,  tail. 

It  would  seem 


248 


TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 


Of  course  the  animal  is  highly  magniiied,  in  order 
to  show  the  little  animals.  Attention  is  especially 
called  to  this  cut. 


Fig.  3.    A,  head;  B,  tail;  C,  small  tricliinas  escaping. 

The  female,  as  before  observed,  is  much  larger 
than  the  male,  and  also  much  more  numerous.  By 
some  observers  it  is  stated  that  there  are  seven  or 
eight  females  to  one  male.  Hence  the  wonderful 
rapidity  with  which  they  multiply.  Immense  num- 
bers of  them  may  be  found  within  a  very  small 
space.  Dalton  observed  twelve  trichinae  in  a  piece 
of  muscle  the  one  twelfth  of  an  inch  square  and  one 
fiftieth  of  an  inch  thick,  which  would  give  7,200  to 
the  square  inch;  and  we  ourselves  have  in  a  piece 
of  muscle  weighing  one  tenth  of  a  grain  been  able  to 
distinctly  count  eleven,  giving  thus  52,800  to  the 
ounce.  A  few  mouthfuls  of  food  infested  at  such 
a  rate  would  afford  females  enough  to  generate  mil- 
lions.     (Jackson.) 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  249 

The  parent  trichinae  after  giving  birth  to  their 
young  are  expelled  from  the  intestines.  About  a 
week  usually  after  trichinous  food  has  been  taken 
into  the  stomach  the  young  animals  have  been 
hatched,  and  commence  boring  into  the  walls  of  the 
intestines ;  though  Fiedler's  experiments  upon  rabbits 
show  that  the  trichinae  may  become  sexual  during 
the  second  or  third  day,  and  the  embryos  quit  the 
mother  to  commence  their  peregrinations  on  the  fourth 
day.  How  do  they  get  into  the  muscles?  This 
question  is  answered  in  two  ways.  Dalton  says 
they  reach  their  destination  by  means  of  the  cir- 
culation, and  has  been  led  to  conclude  that  the  cysts 
are  formed  within  the  walls  of  the  capillary  blood- 
vessels. The  oedema  observed  in  trichina  disease 
confirms  this  idea.  He  says:  "It  would  be  difficult 
to  explain  on  any  other  supposition,  but  is  easily 
understood  by  an  arrest  of  the  circulation  taking 
place  simultaneously  in  so  many  capillary  blood- 
vessels as  must  necessarily  be  obstructed  when  7,000 
trichinae  are  contained  within  the  space  of  a  cubic 
inch." 

The  foregoing  explanation  is  opposed  by  Virchow 
and  Leuckhart,  who  believe  that  the  parasite  works 
its  way  to  its  place  of  destination  by  vermicular 
motion,  and  by  boring  through  the  structures  with 
which  they  come  in  contact,  and  finally  lodging  in 


250  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

the  muscular  fiber.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the 
fact  that  we  have  no  record  of  the  animal  being 
found  in  the  blood.  When  they  reach  the  muscles 
they  commence  undergoing  encapsulation,  and  become 
completely  inclosed,  and  so  remain  till  they  are  set 
free  by  being  taken  into  the  stomach  of  some  flesh- 
eating  animal.  They  do  not  infest  all  parts  of  the 
body,  as  none  have  as  yet  been  seen  in  the  heart, 
brain,  bladder,  or  in  fat.  Usually  but  a  single  worm 
is  contained  in  a  cyst,  though  occasionally  two  and 
sometimes  three  or  four  are  found.      (Jackson.) 

As  before  stated,  when  the  worm  becomes  encysted 
it  remains  in  its  dormant  state  until  the  death  of  its 
host,  when,  if  chance  favors  its  entrance  into  the 
stomach  of  another  animal,  it  begins  anew  its  cycle 
of  development;  otherwise  it  perishes.  Scoutetten 
gives  a  case  where  the  muscles  of  a  subject,  who 
had  been  infected  thirteen  years  previously,  promptly 
developed  and  gave  forth  young  upon  being  swal- 
lowed by  a  rabbit ;  and  in  the  London  Medical  Times 
and  Gazette  for  June,  1866,  is  the  record  of  a  case 
from  Virchow's  archives,  in  which  living  trichinse 
within  calcareous  capsules  were  found  in  a  patient 
who  had  been  trichinosed  twenty-four  years  pre- 
viously.    (Jackson.) 

A  rather  singular  fact  has  been  observed  by  Yir- 
chow  and  others,  that  though  trichinae  would  undergo 


TEICHINA  SPIRALIS.  261 

development  and  propagate  in  the  intestines  of  the 
dog,  they  would  not  penetrate  through  the  intestines 
and  enter  the  muscles.  The  hog,  of  all  animals,  is 
the  most  easily  infected,  and  it  is  from  this  animal 
that  nearly  or  quite  all  the  cases  of  infection  of  the 
human  subject  have  been  produced.  This  is  a  fact 
of  great  importance  where  the  flesh  of  the  hog  is  the 
chief  article  of  animal  food.  It  must  be  kept  in 
mind,  however,  that  other  animals  are  sometimes 
infected,  such  as  the  calf,  ox,  goat,  sheep,  rabbit, 
hare,  mice,  rats,  moles,  etc.  As  yet  in  none  of  the 
barn-yard  fowls  have  the  muscular  trichinae  been 
found,  though  repeated  experiments  have  been  made 
to  determine  the  point.      (Jackson.) 

After  much  investigation  and  many  experiments, 
the  conclusion  seems  to  be  that  of  all  the  animals 
which  come  to  our  table,  we  need  fear  trichinous  in- 
fection from  the  hog  alone.  Some  cases  of  infection 
from  eating  beef  are  recorded.  Dr.  Percy,  of  New 
York,  has  given  a  case  of  this  kind,  and  several 
German  observers  have  seen  cases  of  infection  from 
eating  raw  beef;  but  such  cases  are  comparatively 
rare. 

These  little  animals  manifest  a  wonderful  tenacity 
of  life.  Leuckhart  submitted  trichinous  flesh  for 
three  days  to  a  temperature  of  thirteen  degrees 
below  zero,  F.;   after  which  he  fed  it  to  a  rabbit, 


252  TKEATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

which  died  trichinosed  at  the  end  of  four  weeks ;  and 
it  has  .been  ascertained  that  they  will  bear  for  a 
time  with  impunity  a  temperature  up  to  169°  F.,  but 
heated  above  that  point  they  are  infallibly  destroyed. 
(Kestner.) 

Hertwig  boiled  trichinous  meat,  cut  in  slices  the 
size  of  one's  thumb,  for  twenty-two  minutes  without 
killing  the  trichinae,  though  a  continuation  of  the 
boiling  three  minutes  longer  destroyed  them. 

Yirchow  demonstrated  the  difficulty  of  destroying 
them  by  soaking  trichinous  meat  in  a  solution  of 
chromic  acid  so  strong  as  to  coagulate  the  muscular 
tissue;  and  yet,  after  eight  days  of  digestion,  on 
denuding  them  from  their  capsules,  they  showed  by 
their  movements  that  they  had  not  been  injured.  It 
has  been  said  that  salting  may  be  relied  upon  as  a 
destructive  means.  Accurate  investigations  demon- 
strated that  the  effect  of  salting  is  so  uncertain  that 
it  can  not  be  relied  upon;  a  person  has  been  infected 
by  pork  which  had  been  submitted  to  a  salting  for 
thirty-five  days.     Smoking  is  equally  doubtful. 

With  a  view  to  the  destruction  of  the  trichinae 
while  in  the  intestines,  a  great  many  experiments 
have  been  made  upon  the  muscular  trichinae  with  a 
variety  of  medicinal  substances,  such  as  arsenic, 
chloroform,  santonine,  iodide  of  potash,  chloride  of 
sodium,  etc.     Some  of  these  medicines  have  been 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  253 

sufficient  to  destroy  them,  but  no  practical  results  30 
far  as  destroying  them  while  in  the  system  have  been 
obtained.  The  only  reliance  against  infection  seems 
at  last  to  be  heat ;  when  a  piece  of  meat  has  been 
heated  in  cooking  to  above  170°,  at  which  the  albu- 
men in  the  worm  is  coagulated,  and  in  this  way,  and 
this  way  only,  is  there  a  certainty  that  they  will  be 
destroyed. 

Germany  of  all  countries  has  suifered  most  from 
the  trichina  disease,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  it 
is  a  common  habit  among  them  to  eat  raw  meat.  It 
is  not  a  matter  of  very  great  astonishment  that  so 
many  of  them  should  sicken  and  die.  Several  Ger- 
man writers  and  microscopists  have  given  earnest  and 
careful  study  to  this  little  parasite,  and  the  writer 
feels  that  he  can  not  do  better  than  give  their  ex- 
periments to  show  how  important  it  is  for  every  one 
to  be  posted  in  regard  to  the  habits  of  these  worms, 
and  the  mischief  they  have  done  and  are  likely  yet 
to  do.  Virchow,  Zencker,  and  Kuchenmeister,  and 
in  this  country  Leidy,  Dalton,  and  others,  have  been 
foremost  in  these  investigations,  Virchow  says,  after 
giving  an  account  of  a  number  of  cases  that  came 
under  his  observation: 

"  One  has  to  remark  here  that  all  these  were  first 
recognized  by  dissection,  and  while  these  persons 
lived  no  one  had  a  misgiving  of  their  condition.    All 


254  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

the  tricliinse  found  in  these  cases  were  encapsuled; 
they  were  therefore  all  cured  cases;  but  they  have  a 
weighty  significance,  as  they  show  that  the  possi- 
bility of  a  danger  we  fear  in  other  cases  is  not  far 
removed. 

"  But  these  experiences  would  not  have  been  suffi- 
cient to  arouse  the  general  interest  if  other  cases  of 
fresh  migration,  not  encapsuled,  and  free  trichinae  had 
not  been  discovered,  and  if  we  had  not  been  led  by 
this  to  investigate  the  source  of  these  migrations,  and 
if,  finally,  no  epidemic  of  cases,  and  cases  of  death  in 
consequence  thereof,  had  occurred. 

"It  is  the  merit  of  Zencker  that  he  first,  in  and 
near  Dresden,  observed  such  an  epidemic,  and  also 
showed  in  the  ham  and  sausages  made  from  one  par- 
ticular pig  the  trichina.  This  pig  had  been  butchered 
on  a  farm  near  Dresden.  The  butcher,  the  owner  of 
the  farm,  and  other  people  had  fallen  sick,  and  a  pre- 
viously perfectly  healthy  servant  girl  had  died.  In 
her  body  an  abundance  of  trichinae  were  found.  I 
received  from  Mr.  Zencker  a  piece  of  the  ham,  as 
well  as  a  muscle  of  the  girl,  and  therefore  had  the 
opportunity  not  only  to  verify  his  previous  observa- 
tions, but  with  this  material  to  make  a  series  of 
experiments  on  animals,  which  I  will  shortly  state. 

"A  rabbit  fed  with  trichinae  from  the  girl  died  in  a 
month   with   its   flesh  fuU   of  them.     Some  of  this 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  255 

flesh  was  given  to  a  second  rabbit;  it  also  died  in  a 
month.  With  this  meat  three  other  rabbits  were  fed. 
Of  these,  two  died  at  the  end  of  three  weeks,  and 
the  third  in  the  fourth  week.  To  another  animal  the 
meat  of  these  was  fed.  As  it  ate  but  little  it  lived 
six  weeks.  In  all  of  these  the  muscles  after  death 
were  found  filled  with  trichinae.  Even  in  the  smallest 
particle  of  their  meat  several  were  found. 

^'To  be  certain  that  this  result  was  in  reality  due 
to  the  fed  trichina  meat,  I  examined  parts  of  the 
muscles  of  some  of  these  animals  before  they  were 
fed.  I  did  not  find  a  single  trichina,  and  they  have 
never  been  found  in  these  animals  unless  they  had 
previously  been  fed  with  meat  containing  trichinae. 
A  few  weeks  after  feeding,  the  muscles  of  the  same 
animals  which  I  had  found  free  of  them  were  filled 
with  them.  Convincing  as  these  experiments  of  the 
infection  resulting  in  death  were,  through  five  gen- 
erations of  animals,  one  might  still  imagine  them  to 
be  the  result  of  chance. 

"  To  preclude  this  possibility,  there  was  only  to  be 
shown  that  the  migration  and  infestation  really  pro- 
ceeded from  the  feeding  of  the  animals  with  trichinae. 
This,  however,  could  be  demonstrated.  It  could  be 
proved  that  the  trichinae  in  the  fed  meat  became  free 
in  the  stomach  and  intestines  of  the  rabbit,  and 
become  individuals  of  both  sexes,  which  in  a  short 


256  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

time  attained  a  length  of  from  three  to  four  mille- 
metres,  and  with  the  naked  eye  can  be  seen  as  fine, 
white  threads.  Eggs  are  produced  in  the  female,  and 
from  these  young  even  in  the  body  of  the  mother, 
which  about  a  week  later  are  born,  and  move  about 
freely  in  the  mucus  of  the  intestine.  The  trichinae 
are  therefore  animals  which  beget  living  young. 

"The  young  are  exceedingly  minute.  They  are 
the  smallest  of  the  class  of  thread-worms  known.  It 
is  the  young  which  leave  the  intestine  and  penetrate 
the  body. 

"I  have  found  them  in  the  lymphatic  glands  of  the 
mesentery,  in  the  peritoneal  cavity,  and  in  the  peri- 
cardium, and  in  the  muscles.  In  the  latter  they  find 
the  suitable  conditions  for  their  further  development. 
Here  they  increase,  and  in  from  three  to  five  weeks 
attain  the  size  of  their  parents  at  the  time  they  were 
fed. 

"The  above  series  of  investigations,  which  I  com- 
municated to  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences  at  their 
session  of  July  2,  1860,  allow  no  doubt  of  the  his- 
tory and  importance  of  the  trichina.  I  have  myself 
repeated  these  investigations  several  times,  and  other 
observers  have  done  likewise.  If  we  add  to  these 
the  observations  made  on  men,  Avhich  increase  every 
year,  it  must  be  regarded  as  folly  or  criminal  to  speak 
of  unfounded  fear  of  trichina. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  257 

"A  whole  series  of  cases,  or,  as  they  are  called, 
epidemical,  are  well  established.  I  refer  to  the 
epidemics  of  Plauen,  Calbe  on  Saale,  Quedlinburg, 
Burg  near  Magdeburg,  Weimar,  and  Hettstadt  near 
Eislaben,  as  well  as  the  very  curious  case  which 
happened  on  a  Hamburg  vessel.  Several  other  epi- 
demics which  have  been  probably  caused  by  trichinae 
I  do  not  report,  because  of  there  having  been  no 
microscopic  investigation.  In  the  other  epidemics 
there  were  many  cases;  twenty  to  fifty  persons 
were  infested;  but  in  the  case  of  Hettstadt  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  persons  fell  sick,  several  of  these  very 
severely,  and  the  number  of  deaths  were  above 
twenty.  There  is  no  room,  therefore,  for  doubt.  The 
most  reliable  observations  have  been  made.  I  have 
examined  flesh  from  the  cases  at  Burg  and  Hettstadt, 
and  found  them  literally  filled  with  trichinae. 

"It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  treatise  to  dilate 
upon  the  symptoms  of  the  disease  in  particular.  It 
may  suffice  to  say  that  the  symptoms  are  various. 
Sometimes  they  are  irritation  of  the  intestines  (in- 
testinal catarrh),  dysentery,  gastric  disturbances,  and 
muscular  disease,  as  weakness,  stiffness,  pains  resem- 
bling gout  or  rheumatism,  and  a  febrile  condition 
similar  to  that  of  typhus  fever.  Sometimes  the 
train  of  symptoms  are  acute,  and  death  occurs  in  the 

fourth  or  fifth  week.     Sometimes  they  proceed  more 

22 


258  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

slowly,  and  after  weeks  convalescence  occurs,  with 
chronic  disease,  emacia,tion,  and  loss  of  strength.  In 
several  cases  I  have  examined  the  dead  bodies  of 
those  supposed  to  have  been  victims  of  consumption. 
In  these,  with  very  little  affection  of  the  lungs,  I 
found  many  trichinae,  with  great  decrease  of  muscular 
substance. 

"To  the  experienced  physician  these  cases  of 
disease  have  peculiarities  by  which  they  are  dis- 
tinguished from  gastric  and  nervous  fevers,  from 
gout  and  rheumatic  affections;  but  a  perfectly  re- 
liable judgment  can  only  be  found  if  trichinae  have 
been  found  in  the  meat  which  was  eaten,  or  in  the 
body  of  the  patient  himself;  but  the  latter  is  only 
possible  if  a  small  piece  of  muscle  be  taken  by  an. 
operation  from  the  body  of  the  patient.  Without  the 
certainty  of  the  presence  of  the  animals,  we  formerly 
were  in  doubt  as  to  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  the 
supposition  of  poisoning  was  prevalent. 

"Since  the  year  1860  I  and  several  other  observers 
have  endeavored  to  spread  a  knowledge  of  these  facts, 
and  to  call  attention  to  the  danger  which  might  result 
from  an  incautious  eating  of  pork.  From  the  be- 
ginning the  opposition  of  the  butchers  was  raised, 
and  even  now  it  still  exists.  I  remark,  however, 
that  it  is  precisely  these  tradesmen  who  should  be 
most  interested  in  adopting  every  precaution,  for  the 


TKICHINA  SPIEALIS.  259 

danger  not  only  affects  their  trade,  but  their  per- 
sonal welfare. 

"In  some  of  the  epidemics,  as  well  as  in  a  series  of 
single  cases — for  instance  those  of  Friedrich,  Traube, 
and  Tungel — it  was  just  the  butchers  who  were  in- 
fected by  the  pig  they  killed.  Of  course  we  have 
no  idea  of  infection  by  the  skin;  but  the  butchers  not 
only  eat  of  the  sausages,  but  most  of  them  are  in  the 
habit  of  eating  a  little  of  the  uncooked  meat,  at  the 
time  of  cutting  it  up,  as  well  as  that  which  adheres 
to  the  knife  during  that  process — they  therefore  are 
the  first  exposed  to  the  danger;  next  come  the 
cooks  and  servants;  and  lastly  the  rest  of  the  popu- 
lation. But  even  after,  evil-minded  persons  spread 
the  assertion  that  the  disease  had  not  even  been 
shown  in  the  pig.     This  is  utterly  untrue. 

"As  I  said  in  a  former  portion  of  this  paper,  Leidy, 
in  North  America,  sixteen  years  ago,  found  trichinae 
in  a  pig.  Zencker  found  them  in  the  ham  and  sau- 
sages of  the  pig  partaken  of  by  the  patients  and 
servant  girl  who  died  in  the  Dresden  epidemic.  He 
sent  me  one  piece  of  that  ham,  and  I  ascertained 
that  it  contained  trichinae. 

"The  same  results  have  been  found  in  the  epi- 
demics at  Quedlinburg  and  Hettstadt,  in  hams  in  the 
former  and  in  sausages  in  the  latter.  In  Hettstadt  it 
happened  that  most  of  the  people  who  were  taken  ill 


260  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

had  participated  in  a  feast,  which  took  place  on  the 
10th  of  October  of  last  year.  Most  convincing,  how- 
ever, is  the  case  described  by  Tungel. 

"  The  second  argument  is  no  more  reasonable.  The 
most  careful  trials  with  feeding,  by  Haubner  and 
Kuchenmeister  and  Leisering,  pigs  with  trichina 
meat  resulted  in  showing  that  some  of  these  animals 
sickened  and  died,  but  in  their  conclusions  they  state 
that  the  pigs  so  fed  presented  no  peculiar  symptoms, 
such  as  would  be  indicative  of  this  disease  alone,  and 
furthermore  the  reports  of  the  cases  of  epidemics 
contain  no  mention  of  any  such  peculiar  symptoms  in 
the  pigs  whose  meat  caused  the  disease  in  human 
beings.*  But  even  if  we  admit  that  these  peculiar 
symptoms  of  infection  exist  in  the  pig,  these  will  not 
be  apparent  when  the  pigs  are  in  the  market  and  for 
sale. 

"Such  are  cases  of  already  cured  and  encapsuled 
trichinae.  The  real  symptoms  of  disease  may  have 
appeared  months  before,  and  in  single  cases  very 
honest  owners  offering  them  may  acknowledge  that 
the  pigs  had  been  sick.     But  there  is  no  security  in 

*  Dr.  Eupprecht,  in  Hettstadt,  wrote  me  respecting  the 
pig  from  which  proceeded  the  infection  there.  It  was  a 
two  and  a  half  year  old  mother  pig,  who  appeared  to  five 
butchers  perfectly  healthy ;  another,  and  the  sixth,  bought 
it.  It  therefore  did  not  appear  suspicious  to  him,  for  he  and 
seven  members  of  the  family  ate  the  meat  and  became  sick. 


TRICHINA  SPIHALIS.  261 

these  circumstances.  If  one  considers  how  many 
pigs  come  to  market,  especially  in  large  cities,  not 
only  from  the  distance  of  miles,  but  also  from  more 
distant  provinces  and  countries,  it  is  impossible  to 
investigate  the  history  of  the  previous  state  of  health 
of  the  animals. 

"  It  has  been  shown  that  encapsulation,  and  the  in- 
filtration of  the  capsule  with  chalk,  does  not  kill  the 
animals.  In  most  cases  in  human  beings  where  I 
found  these  capsules  the  inclosed  animal  was  stiU 
alive.  How  long  had  elapsed  since  the  migration  I 
can  not  state,  for  in  all  these  cases  the  time  when 
they  first  entered  the  body  could  not  be  ascertained. 
But  it  is  certain  that  months  must  elapse  before  the 
deposit  of  carbonate  of  Hme  commences,  and  it  is 
highly  probable  that  the  trichinae  may  remain  in  the 
body  of  the  human  subject  in  a  state  of  suspended 
animation,  to  awake  to  new  activity  as  soon  as  they 
are  taken  into  another  body.  I  have  repeatedly,  with 
success,  fed  such  trichinae  to  animals.  Notwithstand- 
ing all  argument,  and  the  question  is  not  merely 
allowed,  but  enjoined,  why  is  it  that  the  accidents 
which  follow  the  eating  of  trichina  meat  are  so  vari- 
ous in  their  degree  and  significance? 

"A  ship  from  Hamburg  returned  from  Valparaiso. 
Before  quitting  the  captain  purchased  a  live  pig.  It 
was  slaughtered  by  the  cook  on  board  the  ship,  on 


262  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

tiiG  1st  of  April,  1863.  The  crew  ate  thirty  pounds 
of  the  pork  fresh,  and  the  remainder  was  salted.  On 
entering  the  port  most  of  the  sailors  fell  sick;  most 
of  them  slightly  so — some,  however,  severely — and 
two  died.  In  a  sixteen-year-old  youth,  who  died  on 
the  24  th,  numerous  free,  living  trichinae  were  found 
in  the  muscles.  The  salted  pork,  a  piece  of  which  I 
obtained  and  examined,  contained  trichinae,  though 
dead. 

"  That  trichinae  are  found  in  pigs,  and  that  people 
who  eat  this  meat  fall  sick,  can  no  more  be  doubted. 
Most  people  are  consoled  with  the  idea  that  the 
infection  of  pigs  is  not  frequent,  and  that  those  who 
have  them  must  evince  the  symptoms.  The  first 
idea  may  be  admitted,  but  what  consolation  does  it 
afford  those  who  have  the  misfortune  to  eat  of  the 
meat  of  the  few  pigs  which  have  trichinae?  This 
question  is  to  be  answered  definitely. 

"The  intestinal  consequences  (gastric  fever  and 
dysentery)  are  consequent  upon  the  presence  of  the 
animals  therein.  The  length  of  this  period  is  in- 
definite. If  after  persons  have  eaten  the  meat  they 
liave  severe  diarrhea,  it  may  be  possible  that  all  the 
animals  are  discharged.  If  not,  they  grow,  move 
about,  procreate,  and  then  comes  the  morbid  irrita- 
tion; this  appears  differently  in  different  individuals. 
Sensitive  persons,  who  are  liable  to  diarrhea,  are  on 


TKICHINA  SPIRALIS.  263 

the  whole  more  secure  from  infestation  than  persons 
inclined  to  costiveness. 

"  The  muscular  and  febrile  symptoms  proceed  from 
the  penetration  of  the  young  from  the  intestine  into 
the  body.  But  these  too  vary  with  individual  pecu- 
harities.  Certain  conditions  of  the  intestine  may 
favor  their  migration  or  otherwise. 

"I  never  succeeded  in  producing  the  disease  in 
iogs,  although  the  development  of  trichinse  in  their 
intestines  is  very  complete,  for  the  first  I  discovered 
ivere  in  a  dog.  We  have  as  yet  no  statistics  on  the 
subject,  as  the  observations  made  do  not  furnish  suffi- 
ient  data.     The  second  idea  is  still  less  valid. 

^^If  the  migration  is  in  course  of  progress,  the 
\.  anger  is  in  the  ratio  of  the  number  of  migrating 
aiimals.  This,  however,  varies.  I  have  seen  cases 
oJ  human  bodies  where  I  could  only  by  a  very  ex- 
tended search  find  about  a  dozen  trichinae  in  the 
muscle.  There,  are  other  cases  of  millions.  The 
noticeable  effects  are  produced  by  the  action  of  the 
animals  on  the  places  to  which  they  penetrate. 

"A  person  who  has  but  a  dozen  or  so  will  probably 
never  have  any  perception  of  it — his  health  Vv^ill  not 
be  disturbed  for  a  moment.  A  second,  into  whose 
muscles  thousands  have  penetrated,  will  have  all 
kinds  of  disagreeable  sensations,  as  pains  in  the 
muscles,  stiffness,  weakness,  heaviness  in  his  limbs, 


264  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

hoarseness,  etc. ;  but  he  will  pass  through  these  symp- 
toms, the  migrating  animals  will  become  encapsuled, 
and  inclosed  with  lime.  Thus  a  cure  will  be  effected. 
A  third,  into  whose  muscles  milhons  migrate,  will 
perhaps  recover  too,  but  very  slowly.  He  will  re- 
main weak,  diseased,  and  very  thin;  or  he  may  not 
recover,  and  may  die  by  advancing  disturbance  of  all 
muscular  activity,  especially  that  of  respiration.  This 
is  evident  if  we  remember  the  three  cardinal  points 
of  the  trichina  elucidation: 

"1.  The  eaten  trichinae  remain  in  the  intestine, 
and  never  enter  the  muscles. 

"2.  They  produce  living  young,  which  enter  the 
muscles. 

^^3.  The  young  which  have  entered  the  muscles 
grow  there,  but  do  not  multiply. 

"  The  main  danger,  therefore,  is  in  the  production 
of  young  by  the  intestinal  trichinse. 

"A  grown  trichina  mother  has  a  hundred  of  living 
young  in  her  body,  and  after  these  young  she  always 
produces  more  and  more  eggs.  How  long  she  lives 
and  produces  young  is  not  exactly  known,  but  at 
least  four  or  five  weeks.  It  is  certain  that  she  is 
fixed  in  the  intestine  and  continues  to  produce  new 
broods  of  young.  If  we  calculate  that  one  trichina 
mother  has  two  hundred  young,  twenty  thousand 
such  mothers  are  sufficient  to  produce  a  million  of 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  265 

young,  and  so  many  female  animals  may  be  contained 
in  a  few  morsels  of  meat. 

"  The  more  trichinae  that  are  eaten,  and  the  longer 
they  remain  in  the  intestine,  the  more  young  will  be 
produced  and  the  danger  increased.  I  have  proved 
this  directly  by  experiments  on  animals. 

"A  rabbit  which  ate  only  a  small  part  of  meat 
containing  few  trichinae  does  not  become  diseased. 
In  the  epidemic  of  Burg  this  was  strikingly  illus- 
trated. A  woman  who  ate  raw  meat  on  bread  died. 
Her  child,  which  only  licked  the  spoon  with  which 
she  had  spread  the  meat,  was  slightly  sick." 

"It  is  certain,"  says  Virchow,  "that  a  person  as 
well  as  a  pig  can  have  trichinae  in  his  body  without 
causing  very  serious  illness  or  death.  That  is,  how- 
ever, a  small  comfort,  inasmuch  as  an  absolute  pre- 
ventative against  trichinae  can  not  be  found;  and 
inasmuch,  moreover,  as  no  special  investigation  of 
meat  can  be  extended  to  all  parts  of  it." 

There  can  be  no  question  that  a  very  large  migra- 
tion of  the  animals  into  the  human  body  does  pro- 
duce disease,  and  in  many  instances  death;  and  it 
v/ould  seem  that  this  is  sufficient  to  do  away  with 
ail  objections  on  the  part  of  any  to  a  thorough 
investigation  of  meat  offered  in  market  for  sale;  yet 
there  are  some  who  even  doubt  the  existence  of  the 
animal. 

23 


266  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

In  discovering  that  the  tape-worm  in  man  came 
from  eating  of  the  cysticercus  of  pigs,  it  has  been 
supposed  that  the  Mosaic  commandment  was  given 
on  account  of  the  danger  from  tape-worms.  But 
tape-worms  seldom  cause  real  disease,  and  are  not 
dangerous  in  the  literal  sense,  and  if  the  prohibition 
proceeded  from  a  knowledge  of  a  transmitted  malady, 
the  idea  of  the  trichina  in  connection  therewith  is 
more  probable.  Certainly  most  men  do  not  sicken 
immediately  after  eating  trichinae  in  meat.  Days 
pass,  and  suspicion  may  easily  fall  on  a  familiar 
cause.  Still,  if  numerous  persons  get  sick  at  the 
same  time,  the  suspicion  will  finally  be  led  to  the 
true  source. 

A  remarkable  case  of  infestation  is  mentioned  by 
Yirchow,  taken  from  Herr  Langenback,  to  which  the 
reader's  careful  attention  is  invited.  It  shows  how 
easily  one  may  be  mistaken,  and  how  careful  should 
be  our  investigations. 

"Last  summer  Herr  Langenback  operated  on  a 
man  for  swelled  neck.  During  the  operation  the  raw 
muscles  were  seen  to  be  filled  with  trichinae,  sur- 
rounded with  the  chalk  deposit.  When  it  was  in- 
quired whether  he  had  never  been  sick  in  a  peculiar 
way  he  told  a  strange  story.  In  the  year  1845  the 
members  of  a  commission  for  inspection  of  schools 
in  the  Lausitz,  at  a  i^eal,  ate  ham,  sausage,  cheese, 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS,  267 

etc.,  at  an  inn.  One  member  partook  of  only  some 
red  wine.  The  other  seven  members  drank  Avhite 
wine  and  ate  of  the  provisions.  All  seven,  in  which 
number  was  included  the  relator,  fell  sick,  and  sub- 
sequently four  died.  Suspicion  was  aroused  toward 
the  inn-keeper  and  the  meal.  Judicial  investigation 
was  had,  in  which  the  white  wine  was  tested,  but 
without  result;  but  the  inn-keeper  could  not  dispel 
the  suspicion  excited  against  him,  and  was  eventually 
obliged  to  emigrate. 

"In  June,  1851,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hamburg, 
a  number  of  persons  who  had  eaten  ham  afterward 
fell  sick.  Three  died,  and  several  others  were  for  a 
long  time  in  a  low  condition.  The  judicial  investiga- 
tion was  here  also  without  result,  and  finally  ham 
poison  was  supposed. 

"Parts  of  the  ham  remained,  and  its  history  could 
be  traced  to  the  butcher.  It  was  then  ascertained 
that  the  ham  had  been  sold  cheaper,  on  account  of  its 
poor  quality,-  but  what  this  inferiority  of  quality  con- 
sisted in  was  not  ascertained.  Through  the  carefully- 
conducted  transactions  in  this  case,  Tungel  proved 
that  the  symptoms  and  the  cause  were  exactly  identi- 
cal with  what  we  know  now  of  the  trichina  disease. 

"More  cases  might  be  named,  but  what  is  given 
suffices  to  prove  that  the  disease  has  existed  before 
we  had  any  knowledge  of  trichinse,  and  the  need  of 


268  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

the  case  is  not  the  malady^  hut  the  knowledge  of  it. 
Nobody,  therefore,  should  try  to  hide  the  danger 
with  such  paltry  reasoning,  when  only  a  conscious 
insight  into  the  sources  of  the  disturbance  enables 
us  to  avoid  or  in  a  great  degree  diminish  it  and  its 
extent." 

Nearly  all  the  cases  alluded  to  in  the  foregoing 
pages  have  been  confined  to  Grermany;  but  the  cases 
are  by  no  means  confined  to  that  country,  and  many 
cases  of  trichina  disease  have  occurred  in  this  country. 
Observations  recently  made  in  Chicago  show  that 
some  sections  of  North  America  would  seem  to  have 
the  swine  inhabiting  them  as  frequently  infected  as 
in  any  part  of  Germany.  By  Scoutetten's  account, 
the  entozoa  is  also  found  in  South  America.  He 
relates  the  case  of  a  ship  coming  into  Hamburg  from 
Valparaiso,  Chili,  with  several  sailors  sick,  two  of 
whom  died  in  hospital,  with  the  symptoms  of  trichi- 
niasis,  and  the  muscles  of  one  of  whom  were  exam- 
ined, and  found  infiltrated  with  hving,  non-encysted 
trichinae.  Upon  tracing  the  malady  to  the  source  of 
infection,  it  was  found  that  a  hog  had  been  bought  at 
Valparaiso  and  subsequently  killed  aboard  ship,  and 
that  its  flesh — a  part  fresh  and  part  salted — had  been 
a  part  of  the  sailors'  diet.  Upon  examining  with  the 
microscope  a  piece  of  that  which  had  been  salted 
^way,  it  was  found  infiltrated  with  trichinae. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  269 

In  the  United  States,  tlius  far,  there  have  been  but 
few  cases  of  trichina  disease  recorded.  The  first  of 
which  Ave  are  aware  as  having  been  fully  made  out 
as  such  in  this  country  were  those  occurring  in  the 
practice  of  Dr.  Schnetter,  of  New  York  City,  in 
February,  1864,  in  the  case  of  a  German  family  who 
had  been  eating  raw  ham,  which,  upon  microscopic 
examination  made  subsequently,  was  found  filled 
with  trichinae,  and  which  resulted  in  a  dangerous 
infection  of  the  whole  family,  and  the  death  of  one 
of  its  members.  Dr.  Yoss,  a  short  time  subsequently, 
was  called  to  see  the  captain,  first  mate,  and  cook  of 
a  Bremen  ship  then  lying  in  the  harbor  of  New  York. 
The  symptoms  were  of  an  anomalous  kind,  but  such 
as  to  induce  Dr.  Yoss  to  suspect  trichinous  infection. 
To  satisfy  himself  he  cut  down  upon  the  deltoid 
muscle  of  the  second  mate,  and  upon  removing  a  por- 
tion of  its  tissue,  and  subjecting  it  to  the  microscope, 
by  the  calculation  of  Dr.  John  C.  Dalton,  who  ex- 
amined a  piece  given  him  by  Dr.  Yoss,  it  contained  a 
little  over  seven  thousand  trichinae  to  the  cubic  inch. 
Dr.  Lathrop,  of  Buffalo,  has  also  reported  a  case, 
Becently  in  Linn  County,  Iowa,  we  have  an  ac- 
count of  nine  persons  in  a  family  eating  raw  ham. 
with  the  serious  illness  of  all  of  them,  and  the 
death  of  five.  The  cases  thus  far  recorded  in  this 
country  have  been  nearly  aU  among  the  foreign  popu- 


270  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

lation,  among  whom  the  custom  of  eating  raw  meat 
prevails. 

Dr.  Leidy  says  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  United 
States  appear  to  be  less  infested  with  entozoa  than 
those  of  any  other  part  of  the  world,  and  accounts 
for  it  by  the  fact  that  an  abundance  of  wholesome 
food  being  at  the  command  of  the  poorest  laborer, 
there  is  produced  a  high  organic  activity,  which  is 
unfavorable  to  parasitical  development.  He  gives  the 
cooking  of  food,  by  destroying  the  germs  of  parasites, 
as  the  reason  for  man,  notwithstanding  his  liability 
to  the  latter,  being  less  infested  than  most  other 
mammalia;  and  very  pertinently  asks,  "Did  instinct 
originally  teach  him  to  cook  his  food,  to  avoid  the 
introduction  of  parasites?" 

Before  closing  this  chapter  the  author  desires  to 
give  his  own  observations  on  the  subject  of  trichinae. 
Before  he  had  known  scarcely  anything  about  these 
parasites  he  had  observed,  while  making  post-mortem 
examinations  with  the  view  particularly  to  under- 
stand hog  cholera,  small,  thread-like  worms  in  the  air 
passages  and  in  the  air  cells  of  the  lungs.  This  fact 
itself  was  unexpected,  for  no  one  had  even  mentioned 
the  existence  of  worms  in  the  lungs,  so  far  as  known 
to  him.  Having  so  frequently  met  with  them  in  hogs 
that  had  died  from  cholera,  he  was  led  to  inquire 
whether  they  also  existed  in  fat  hogs  slaughtered  for 


TRlClilXA  SPIRALIS.  271 

food.  Search  being  made  at  the  butchers'  pens  where 
hogs  were  being  killed  for  the  market;,  they  too  were 
found  to  be  infested  with  precisely  the  same  kind  of 
worms.  These  worms  were  about  half  an  inch  to  an 
inch  or  more  in  lengthy  and  were  exactly  the  same 
size — /.  6.,  they  were  not  larger  in  one  part  of  the 
body  than  another — in  fact^  hair-like.  With  the 
naked  eye  nothing  could  be  determined  in  regard 
to  their  structure.  Not  being  familiar  with  the  use 
of  the  microscope,  they  were  submitted  to  experts  in 
the  use  of  that  instrument.  After  careful  and  re- 
peated examinations,  they  were  pronounced  to  be 
filled  with  trichinae.  These  young  trichinae  were 
seen  escaping  in  almost  countless  numbers  from^  the 
sexual  organ  of  the  female,  as  represented  in  the 
cut  (fig.  3). 

These  worms  have  been  observed  by  others  as 
existing  in  the  lungs,  but  none,  so  far  as  the  writer 
is  aware,  have  had  them  examined  under  the  miscro- 
scope.  They  are  not  confined  to  the  lungs,  but  are 
met  with  also  in  the  bowels.  The  author  does  not 
rely  upon  his  own  knowledge  upon  the  matter,  but, 
as  before  remarked,  has  submitted  them  to  the  best 
microscopists  in  his  reach,  and  some  of  whom,  he 
presumes  to  say,  have  few  if  any  superiors  in  this 
country  as  careful  and  accurate  observers;  and  it  is 
upon  their  authority  that  he  pronounces  that  these 


272  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

worms  are  the  carriers  of  the  dreaded  trichinae.  The 
author  is  not  prepared  to  state  the  percentage  of 
hogs  that  die  or  are  slaughtered  infested  with  these 
worms,  but  certainly  quite  enough  of  them  are  so 
infested  as  to  cause  serious  fears  and  earnest  atten- 
tion. It  will  be  a  matter  of  great  satisfaction  if 
these  worms  turn  out  to  be  other  than  trichinae; 
but  as  the  matter  now  stands  the  conclusion  is  in- 
evitable that  they  are,  and  that  the  lungs,  as  well  as 
the  intestines  and  the  muscles,  are  infested  by  them. 
The  above  facts  may  be  easily  verified  by  any  one 
who  will  take  the  trouble  to  look  for  them.  It  is 
possible,  nay,  highly  probable,  that  in  those  animals 
in  which  the  worm  is  found  in  the  lungs  they  may 
also  be  found  in  the  muscles.  The  strong  probability 
is  that  many  more  hogs  are  infested  by  these  ter- 
rible little  parasites  than  any  one  has  even  dreamed. 
Certainly  a  large  number  of  hogs  are  infested  with 
trichinae. 

The  great  question  in  view  of  all  this  is,  what  pre- 
ventive measures  can  be  adopted  to  arrest  the  spread 
of  trichinae.  Yirchow  has  given  us  some  excellent 
advice  on  this  point. 

"In  the  first  part  I  named  those  animals  in  which 
trichinae  had  hitherto  been  found,  from  which  we  see 
that  carnivorous  and  omnivorous  animals  are  men- 
tioned.    The  mole  was  named,  which  most  farmers 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  273 

think  to  be  only  a  plant  and  root-eating  animal;  but 
it  is  of  importance  as  a  destroyer  of  grubs,  rain- 
worms, snails,  mice,  and  young  rats,  as  the  late 
Gloger  in  his  valuable  writings  has  explained. 

"  It  is  evident  that  in  the  common  course  of  affairs 
trichinse  can  only  be  found  in  carnivora.  For  we 
have  seen  that  the  intestinal  trichinse  produce  living 
young,  which  migrate  into  the  flesh,  and  only  here 
attain  their  further  development^  and  that  they  can  not 
leave  the  meat  in  any  other  way  than  after  it  has  been 
eaten.  This  regular  progression  from  the  intestine 
into  the  muscle,  and  from  the  muscle  into  the  intes- 
tine, is  only  possible  in  meat-eaters.  Still  there  are 
two  exceptions. 

"In  the  first  place,  the  plant-eating  animals  are  not 
so  perfectly  select  in  the  choice  of  their  nutrition 
that  they  might  not  occasionally  swallow  meat.  If 
small  pieces  of  meat  are  placed  in  the  mouth  of  a 
rabbit,  calf,  or  pigeon,  it  swallows  them,  and  upon 
this  depends  the  possibiHty  of  feeding  them  with 
trichina  meat,  of  which  we  have  spoken.  It  might 
happen,  therefore,  by  accident,  that  without  artificial 
feeding  a  plant  animal  might  eat  trichina  meat.  Still, 
for  the  consolation  of  the  reader,  it  may  be  said  that 
such  cases  have  not  been  observed. 

"There  is  another  way  imaginable  than  the  eating 
of  meat  by  which  an  infection  may  occur.    Leuckhart 


274  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

has  pointed  out  this  j^ossibility.  If,  for  instance,  in 
an  animal  the  intestines  of  which  contain  pregnant 
trichinae,  and  the  contents,  when  expelled,  of  the  in- 
testine of  which  are  eaten  by  a  second,  the  latter 
may  become  infected.  It  is  known  that  pigs  will  eat 
human  excrement,  and  this  infection  may  occur  with- 
out the  eating  of  meat.  Although  this  kind  of  infec- 
tion has  not  yet  been  proved,  it  is  very  likely  that  it 
may  occur  in  pigs;  and  it  can  not  be  denied  that 
there  is  a  possibility  of  other  animals  also  being 
affected  in  this  way. 

"  It  is  not  certain  that  the  trichinae  found  in  moles, 
flesh-eating  birds,  or  even  cats,  are  identical  with 
those  found  in  human  beings.  If  we  leave  out  of 
consideration  that  in  large  cities  cat's  meat  is  some- 
times eaten,  the  trichinae  found  in  the  former  animals 
are  of  no  interest  in  our  investigation,  except  that 
pigs  might  be  infested  from  them.  For  this  we  have 
as  yet  no  certain  data,  and  it  might  be  a  subject  of 
further  investigation  only  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining where  the  moles  get  their  trichinae  from. 

^'' I  consider  it  as  established  that  it  is  only  the  un- 
clean or  carnivorous  animals  that  are  dangerous  to  man, 
and  the  most  dangerous  among  these  is  the  pig.  It  is 
not  yet  known  whether  the  wild  boar  is  liable  to 
infection.  The  plant-eating  animal  can  he  considered 
clean  and  not  dangerous. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS..  275 

''The  main  care  of  municipalities  and  individuals 
should  he  directed  to  the  pigs.  The  following  points 
of  view  are  to  be  considered  here: 

"1.  The  infection  of  pigs  hy  trichince  has  to  he 
guarded  against.  I  mention  here  that  an  originating 
of  trichinae  in  pigs  does  not  occur.  Trichinae  are  pro- 
created like  men,  from  father  and  mother.  They 
multiply  by  legitimate  progeny,  and  their  being 
found  in  an  animal  presupposes  infestation  from 
without — i.  e.^    by  means  of  food. 

"In  all  cases  of  prevention  it  is  necessary  to 
examine  the  food  of  the  pigs,  and  to  allow  them 
no  opportunity  to  devour  refuse  animal  matters,  as 
such  matters  are  mostly  trichina-infested  meat,  and 
excrements  of  individuals  infested  by  trichinae,  par- 
ticularly human  excrements.  Feeding  of  the  pigs  in 
sties  scrupulously  clean  (which  is  really  the  interest 
of  the  owner)  would  give  the  greatest  security, 
although  of  course  infections  by  chance  might  not 
be  precluded. 

"Whether  fattening  on  acorns  in  forests  precludes 
infestation  is  not  certain;  experiences  are  wanting, 
and  the  fact  that  wild  animals  have  had  trichinae 
leaves  presumed  security  questionable. 

"Careful  farmers  and  raisers  of  animals  will  see 
the  importance  of  the  above  suggestions.  Most  of 
the  epidemics  of  trichina  disease  have  occurred  in 


276  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

districts  of  Saxony,  where  it  is  the  rule  to  feed  pigs 
in  sties.  We  can  only  recommend  the  most  scrupu- 
lous cleanliness. 

"2.  All  meat  ought  to  he  carefully  examined.  We 
said  before  there  is  no  certain  sign  of  trichina  disease 
in  pigs.  Nothing  will  suffice  but  a  careful  investiga- 
tion of  the  meat. 

"  Only  in  a  few  of  those  in  which  the  trichinae  is 
encapsuled  and  encrusted  in  lime  is  the  investigation 
with  the  naked  eye  sufficient  to  detect  their  presence ; 
most  cases  require  microscojpic  examination. 

"  For  this  purpose,  though  the  best  instruments  are 
preferable,  they  are  not  strictly  necessary.  Micro- 
scopes of  medium  magnifying  power  are  sufficient; 
still  I  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  poor  microscopes 
which  pretend  a  large  magnifying  are  less  reliable 
than  good  instruments  of  much  less  power.  I  recom- 
mend to  prepare  the  meat  as  already  mentioned,  and 
examine  it  with  a  low  power ;  if  any  suspicious  point 
be  observed,  it  should  be  marked,  and  a  higher  power 
used  to  resolve  it  into  its  particulars. 

"Instruments  which  by  their  construction  for  the 
purpose  of  demonstration  give  a  diffused  Kght,  do  not 
give  so  sharp  a  view  of  the  contour  of  a  soft  object 
as  is  desirable  to  the  unpracticed  observer. 

"The  question  arises,  Who  shall  investigate  the 
meat  ? 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  277 

^'1  reply:  In  cities  an  investigation  of  the  meat 
should  devolve  upon  the  city  authorities,  and  be 
done  by  selected  physicians,  veterinary  surgeons,  or 
others  acquainted  with  natural  science. 

"  The  most  simple  way  in  large  cities  is  to  have 
public  slaughtering-houses.  Much  may  be  said  in 
recommendation  of  these,  irrespective  of  trichina 
meat,  and  they  have  been  constructed  in  different 
places  in  Germany.  By  the  employment  of  these 
houses  a  source  of  great  uncleanliness  in  gutters, 
yards,  and  houses  could  be  stopped.  If  a  city  has 
these,  nothing  is  easier  than  to  have  a  microscope 
there,  and  allow  no  pork  to  leave  it  for  sale  until, 
after  proper  examination  of  the  meat,  testimonials 
had  been  given  of  its  wholesomeness.  The  chief  in- 
vestigator should  examine  a  part  of  several  muscles 
of  each  animal,  which  can  be  done  in  ten  minutes, 
and  then  give  his  testimonial  of  the  case. 

"In  small  cities,  where  no  slaughtering-houses 
exist,  the  appointed  examiner  should  have  an  op- 
portunity to  investigate  the  meat,  and  I  do  not  doubt 
that  this  is  everywhere  possible.  Even  now  the 
butchers  at  different  places — Stedtein,  Nordhausen — 
have  made  contracts  with  certain  physicians,  who 
on  their  part  investigate  the  meat  and  attest  to  its 
purity.  But  this  is  not  sufficient;  for  it  should  be 
undertaken  not  merely  in  the  private  interest  of  the 


278  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

butcher,  but  the  public  health  and  welfare  is  con- 
cerned; and  for  this  the  state  should  be,  under  the 
circumstances,  responsible. 

"Besides  cities,  there  are  villages,  country  towns, 
hospitals,  and  other  institutions,  ships,  etc.,  and 
nothing  is  easier  than  to  find  a  suitable  person,  as  a 
teacher  or  physician,  a  clergyman  or  the  master  of  a 
ship,  to  become  acquainted  with  the  means  of  con- 
ducting such  an  investigation.  On  larger  estates  it 
is  to  be  expected  that  the  proprietor  or  his  steward 
will  have  sufficient  interest  to  convince  himself  of 
the  purity  of  the  meat  his  workmen  and  families 
consume;  and  neither  the  labor  or  the  price  of  the 
means  of  doing  it  can  be  deemed  a  ground  of  ob- 
jection in  comparison  with  life  and  health. 

"  Once  more  I  point  out  that  it  is  futile  to  say  that 
the  cases  of  disease  are  too  infrequent  to  justify  such 
expenditure  of  means  to  prevent  it  throughout  the 
l:ind,  and  indeed  the  world.  What  a  single  person 
will  do  for  himself  is  his  own  affair;  but  the  commu- 
nity is  under  obligation  to  prevent  dangers  which  the 
single  individual  otherwise  may  in  cases  incur;  and 
to  assist  those  who  may  undesignedly  be  the  means 
of  endangering  others,  or  where  it  is  necessary  to 
control  them,  that  they  may  be  under  special  requisi- 
tion to  exercise  their  trade  without  injury  to  others. 
If  a  butcher  of  a  cow  is  the  cause,  even  unwittingly, 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  279 

of  hundreds  of  persons  falling  sick,  and  some  dying, 
he  can  not  complain  if  he  is  controlled  in  the  same 
way  as  a  manufacturer  who  deals  in  dangerous  chem- 
icals. 

"The  worst  is  of  the  small  country  farmers  who 
neither  possess  a  microscope  nor  are  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  any  person  who  is  qualified  to  make  the 
examination ;  but  certainly  the  time  will  arrive  when 
every  teacher  will  possess  a  microscope.  Till  then 
the  small  proprietors  can  only  be  guarded  against  in- 
fection by  being  very  careful  about  the  preparation 
of  their  food.     This  point  we  will  further  dilate  upon. 

"3.  The  pork  should  he  cooked  very  carefully.  In 
some  places  pork  is  eaten  raw,  scraped.  I  do  not 
mean  merely  butchers  and  cooks,  nor  merely  the  use 
of  scraped  meat  advised  by  physicians,  since  they 
prescribe  not  raw  pork,  but  beef;  but  in  some  places 
it  is  a  common  habit  to  eat  raw  pork.  In  Burg  a 
great  many  cases  of  disease  and  death  were  occa- 
sioned by  people  eating  raw  scraped  meat  on  bread 
for  breakfast;  cases  which  are  very  striking,  since 
sometimes  in  the  same  family  single  members  who 
had  eaten  of  the  same  meat  cooked  or  fried  which 
others  that  fell  sick  had  eaten. 

"We  must  therefore  recommend  never  to  eat  pork 
raw ;  for  even  a  microscopic  investigation  will  never 
give  an  absolute  guarantee,  since  single  trichina  may 


280  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

have  been  overlooked.  And  if  even  a  few  enter 
the  body  without  fatal  results  it  is  still  better  to 
avoid  all  danger.  Whoever  wants  to  eat  raw  meat 
as  a  regimen  or  preference  should  eat  beef  or 
mutton. 

"But  even  the  cooking  of  it  does  not  aiford  any 
security  unless  it  is  done  carefully.  In  boiling,  roast- 
ing, frying,  or  smoking,  more  or  less  of  the  meat  may 
remain  nearly  raw,  and  therefore  be  dangerous.  The 
greatest  danger  is  from  ham;  especially  since  it  is 
cured  so  rapidly.  In  this  case  the  ham  is  either  not 
at  all  smoked,  or  that  for  only  so  short  a  time  that 
the  greatest  part  of  it  remains  fresh.  Sometimes  it 
is  merely  brushed  over  with  creosote,  wood-acid,  or 
some  other,  which  gives  it  the  smoky  taste,  and  is 
then  offered  for  sale.  If  it  contained  trichinae  they 
remain  after  this  preparation  of  the  meat  entirely 
alive. 

"  Formerly  it  was  otherwise ;  then  the  pigs  were 
killed  in  the  fall;  the  hams  were  hung  in  the  chim- 
ney or  smoke-house,  and  remained  there,  to  be  eaten 
several  months  later.  Under  this  treatment  the  tri- 
chinse  are  dead  and  harmless;  but  then  the  ham  is 
dry  and  hard,  and  is  not  so  savory.  Our  forefathers 
did  not  think  this  an  evil.  They  knew  that  a  person 
eats  less  of  this  ham,  because  one  is  satisfied  with 
less  of  it.     They  had  the  same  opinions  as  ^^  people 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  281 

of  Norway,  who  do  not  smoke  their  meat,  but  let  it 
dry  for  six  months  or  a  year. 

"  Such  old-fashioned  ham  is  not  to  be  found  in 
trade  now-a-days.  Even  in  Westphalia  the  new 
method  is  in  use.  The  requirements  of  trade  do 
not  leave  any  on  hand. 

"Whoever  cures  the  ham  which  he  will  consume 
may  allow  it  to  remain  as  long  as  he  pleases,  to  pre- 
clude all  danger;  and  therefore  in  the  country  and 
in  small  cities,  where  families  cure  the  hams  thev 
consume,  less  danger  is  to  be  apprehended;  but  those 
who  buy  hams  have  only  two  possibilities  for  security. 
They  must  have  the  ham  investigated  by  a  micro- 
scope; for  this  it  is  sufficient  to  cut  out  from  dif- 
ferent places  small  pieces  and  have  them  examined, 
or  they  must  use  only  well-boiled  ham.  In  the 
southern  part  of  Germany  only  cooked  ham  is  con- 
sumed, which  explains  why  until  now  but  few  cases 
of  trichina  disease  have  been  known.  Still  they  are 
not  wholly  wanting.  I  have  several  times  found  at 
Wurtzburg  numerous  encapsuled  trichinae  in  human 
bodies,  and  in  Tubingen  and  Heidelberg  single  cases 
have  been  repeatedly  observed. 

"  Next  in  danger  to  ham  is  pork  sausage,  specially 
ham  sausage;  liver  and  blood  sausage  should  be  ex- 
cepted, if  they  are  carefully  prepared.  But  some- 
times fine  meat  is  mixed  with  the  liver  and  blood, 

2-1 


282  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

and  experience  has  shown  that  such  sausages  have 
caused  severe  disease  (Dresden,  Calbe,  Burg).  In 
Hettstadt  it  was  the  so-called  head-cheese  in  which 
numerous  trichinae  were  found.  In  the  preparation 
of  sausage  a  change  similar  to  that  in  the  preparation 
of  hams  has  lately  taken  place.  Formerly  the  sau- 
sage was  boiled  more  to  make  sausage  soup.  The 
long  sausage  ("bratwurst")  was  longer  fried,  and  the 
smoked  sausage  was  longer  smoked,  and  longer  kept. 
But  now-a-days,  especially  in  cities  where  everything 
is  ready-made  for  sale,  everything  has  to  be  made 
very  fast;  and  sausage  has  to  be  fresher  or  rawer, 
and  more  savory,  for  such  is  the  taste  of  the  con- 
sumer. Accordingly  it  is  easily  understood  that 
since  the  preparation  of  sausage  has  ceased  to  be  a 
domestic  work,  and  come  into  the  hands  of  trades- 
men, the  danger  has  increased;  and  this  fact  may 
explain  what  seems  so  astonishing  to  the  public; 
viz.,  that  the  trichina  disease  is  so  frequent  now,  if 
we  admit  that  it  is  now  more  frequent  than  formerly. 
"But  such  danger  was  unexpected.  According  to 
an  account  of  Dr.  Rupprecht,  in  Hettstadt  sausage 
was  prepared  as  follows :  The  pork  and  its  rind  were 
boiled  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  hours  in  a  kettle, 
and  was  then  minced  and  filled;  the  sausage  was 
then  boiled  from  one  half  to  three  quarters  of  an 
hour.     A  portion  of  this  sausage,  fried  in  a  pan  until 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  283 

the  fat  drained  off,  was  eaten  by  a  family  of  five  per- 
sons. All  of  these  persons  soon  fell  sick,  and  one,  a 
young  boy,  died.  It  was  ascertained  that  no  more 
of  the  diseased  pig  had  been  eaten  by  them. 

"It  is  easy  to  understand  that  after  this  and 
similar  experience  the  population  of  Hettstadt  were 
panic-stricken,  and  the  municipality,  as  well  as  the 
administration  in  Merseburg,  announced  publicly  that 
even  boiling  of  the  pork  afforded  no  security. 

'•I  will  return  to  this  point  presently,  but  meantime 
remark  that  Dr.  W.  MuUer  ascertained  on  inquiry 
that  in  making  the  sausage  of  the  boiled  meat  and 
rind,  raw  minced  meat  was  added;  and  the  sausage 
was  afterward  scalded,  but  not  really  boiled.  These 
facts  suffice  to  show  the  insecurity  of  eating  sausage, 
especially  pork,  of  which  it  is  not  known  to  the  con- 
sumer how  it  was  prepared.  And  the  question  arises 
whether  the  so-caUed  sausage-poison,  as  in  the  case 
of  ham-poison,  can  not  be  explained  by  the  presence 
of  trichinae. 

"In  Swabia  many  cases  of  poisoning  by  sausage 
have  been  recorded,  wherein  chemical  analysis  failed 
to  detect  any  poison.  But  I  revert  to  the  boiling 
and  roasting.  It  is  certain  that  a  trichina  exposed 
to  the  boiling  point,  80°  Reamur,  invariably  dies. 
This  is  even  the  case  in  a  temperature  which  will 
coagulate  the  white  of  an  ^^^ — 50°  to  60°  Reamur. 


284  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

But  it  is  equally  certain  that  frequently  the  former 
temperature  is  not  reached  in  boiling  and  roasting,  or 
if  reached,  not  the  whole  of  the  meat  is  exposed  to 
it.  This  is  certainly  the  case  when  large  pieces  are 
boiled  or  roasted;  and  we  even  see  in  cut  slices  that 
some  is  half  or  wholly  raw.  The  blood  and  albumen 
have  not  coagulated  as  in  the  case  of  boiling  heat. 
The  parts  are  yet  soft,  fresh,  and  red.  The  same  is 
the  case  of  chops.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
trichinae  in  the  inner  part  of  the  meat  have  not  been 
reached  by  a  killing  temperature;  and  by  such  broil- 
ing, roasting,  or  frying  the  danger  is  not  prevented. 

"About  these  relations  (of  heat  to  animal  life) 
direct  experiments  have  been  made.  Kuchenmeister 
found  that  large  pieces  of  meat  which  had  been  put 
in  a  kettle  after  a  boiling  of  half  an  hour  attained  a 
temperature  of  48°  Reamur.  Inside  it  had  only  44°. 
After  boiling  longer  than  half  an  hour,  the  meat  had 
a  temperature  of  62°  to  64°  outwardly;  and  after 
being  cut  up  and  put  to  boil  they  attained  inside, 
after  one  hour's  boiling,  a  temperature  of  from  59° 
to  60°;  fried  sausage  and  chops  reached  a  tempera- 
ture of  50°;  Frankfort  sausage,  51°;  roast  pork, 
which  was  inside  bloody,  had  52°  Reamur.  These 
numbers  are  not  fixed  for  all  cases,  and  it  will  often 
happen  that  the  temperature  of  the  meat  and  sausage 
remains  several  degrees  under  these  stated  numbers. 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  285 

"  Fiedler  found  that  trichinae  can  bear  a  tempera- 
ture of  from  30°  to  40°  Reamur,  and  that  even  in 
that  of  50°  to  52°  Reamur  they  do  not  die  imme- 
diately,  although  they  may  not  live  long  afterward. 

"  From  this  record  it  is  evident  that  the  common 
boiling  or  frying  of  sausages,  as  well  as  the  prepara- 
tion of  chops  and  rare-roasted  pork,  scarcely  reaches 
the  temperature  which  will  kill  the  trichinae.  I  con- 
clude with  the  results  of  trials  which  Kuchenmeister, 
in  conjunction  with  Huebner  and  Liesering,  made. 

"1.  The  trichinae  are  killed  by  longer  immersion 
in  brine  of  the  meat,  and  by  twenty-four  hours'  hot 
smoking  of  sausages. 

"2.  They  are  not  killed  by  three  days'  cold 
smoking,  and  it  seems  the  boiling  of  meat  for 
making  sausages  does  not  certainly  kill  them. 

"3.  A  long-keeping  of  cold  smoked  sausages  seems 
to  destroy  the  life  of  the  trichina. 

"Let  every  one  now  reflect  how  the  foregoing  facts 
shall  influence  him.  My  task  was  not  so  much  to 
cause  fear  and  to  agitate  the  community  more  than  it 
already  is,  but  rather  to  show  the  means  of  shielding 
themselves  from  unquestionable  danger." 

The  foregoing  may  be  very  properly  and  profitably 
added  to  the  remarks  of  Professor  Dalton,  of  New 
York,  as  it  strengthens  and  corroborates  the  views 
aiul  observations  of  Virchow  already  so  extensively 


286  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

quoted.  Surely  no  one  will  hesitate  to  accept  the 
testimony  furnished  by  the  observations  of  men  of  so 
much  wisdom  and  experience,  and  whose  fame  ex- 
tends to  all  countries  where  science  is  cultivated. 

Professor  Dalton's  views  on  the  subject  of  preven- 
tion are  as  follows : 

'^  There  still  remains  one  question  of  a  very  im- 
portant nature — How  great  is  the  liability  of  the 
community  at  the  present  time  to  be  infected,  and 
what  measures  can  be  taken  to  prevent  it? 

"The  pig  seems  to  be  the  animal  naturally  the 
most  liable  to  trichinosis.  He  is  certainly  more 
liable  to  this  disease  than  any  other  animal  used  for 
food,  neither  the  sheep  nor  the  ox  being  subject  to  it. 
It  has  been  found  in  this  country,  by  investigations 
in  Chicago  in  1866,  that  of  all  the  pigs  brought  to 
market  in  that  city  one  in  fifty  is  infected  with  tri- 
chinsB.  This  shows  that  we  are  all  in  danger  of 
becoming  infected  by  the  use  of  pork,  unless  meas- 
ures be  taken  in  preparing  the  meat  to  destroy  the 
vitality  of  the  worms.  Smoking  and  salting  will  not 
do  this  effectually.  Only  thorough  cooking  is  to  be 
relied  on  as  a  safeguard.  It  is  remarkable  that  most 
if  not  all  of  the  cases  of  trichinosis  in  this  country 
thus  far  have  occurred  among  the  Germans.  This  is 
because  they  have  the  habit,  not  otherwise  common 
here,  of  eating  ham,  sausages,  and  even  sometimes 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  287 

fresh  pork,  nearly  or  quite  in  the  uncooked  state.  To 
kill  the  worms  the  ham  must  not  only  be  salted  and 
smoked,  but  cooked,  and  cooked  thoroughly.  Now 
if  you  bear  in  mind  that  one  pig  in  fifty  is  infected 
with  trichinae,  you  will  perhaps  think  many  times 
before  putting  between  your  lips  a  piece  of  pork 
or  ham  or  sausage  in  the  raw  state;  you  will  be 
certain  that  it  is  cooked;  and  not  only  that,  but 
thoroughly  cooked.  One  of  the  worst  cases  of  tri- 
chinosis that  has  come  under  my  observation  was 
caused  by  eating  pork-chops  which  were  rare  or 
slightly  underdone.  Now  these  chops  were  prob- 
ably well  enough  cooked  on  the  outside;  but  on  the 
inside  they  were  red  and  juicy,  and  the  danger  was 
precisely  the  same  as  if  the  patient  had  taken  the 
meat  entirely  raw.  In  order  to  destroy  the  vitality 
of  the  trichina,  the  meat  should  be  subjected  to  a 
temperature  of  212°  F.  Now  if  you  boil  a  ham  for 
half  an  hour,  or  even  an  hour,  you  do  necessarily 
subject  all  parts  of  it  to  this  temperature.  In  the 
central  parts  of  the  ham  the  temperature  wiU  not 
rise  to  that  point  unless  the  boiling  has  been  long 
continued.  I  speak  of  this  particularly,  as  it  is  a 
very  important  matter.  A  temperature  of  less  than 
170°  F.  does  not  destroy  the  trichinae.  As  shown 
by  direct  experiment,  therefore,  a  piece  of  trichinous 
meat,  any  part  of  which  has  not  been  raised  to  or 


288  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

above  this  point,  is  just  as  dangerous  as  if  it  were 
taken  in  the  raw  state. 

"  These  are  the  chief  points  of  importance  in 
regard  to  the  trichinae  and  trichinosis.  The  dis- 
ease is  fatal  enough,  frequent,  enough,  and  revolting 
enough  to  induce  us  to  take  all  possible  measures  to 
prevent  it,  and  I  do  not  think  anything  is  sufficient 
for  this  but  a  personal  examination  of  every  piece  of 
pork,  ham,  bacon,  or  sausage  used  as  food,  to  see  that 
every  part  of  it  has  been  subjected  to  a  thorough 
cooking  process. 

"There  are  other  points  of  considerable  interest 
with  regard  to  the  rapidity  with  which  the  human 
subject  may  be  infected,  the  great  number  of  persons 
who  may  become  infected  by  eating  the  product  of  a 
single  slaughtered  animal,  and  the  degree  of  fatality 
attending  the  disease.  Enough,  however,  is  known 
to  convince  us  that  the  aifection  is  a  very  frequent 
one,  and  liable  to  be  exceedingly  fatal,  or  if  not  fatal, 
to  produce  prolonged  and  exhausting  disease. 

"Much  would  be  effected  if  all  pork  offered  for 
sale  in  the  market  could  be  subjected  to  inspection; 
and  this  has  been  done  in  some  parts  of  Grermany. 
Pork  being  liable  to  infection  not  only  with  trichinae, 
but  also  with  cysticercus,  producing  tape-worm  in 
the  human  subject,  such  inspection  would  undoubt- 
edly prove  very  useful.     Still  it  would  not  afford 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  289 

complete  protection  unless  carried  out  with  an  amount 
of  detail  which  would  in  all  probability  prove  practi- 
cally unattainable.  The  only  absolute  protection 
therefore  must  be  that  exercised  by  the  individual 
himself.  He  must  see  that  he  never  uses  for  food 
any  kind  or  preparation  of  pork  in  any  form  not  so 
thoroughly  cooked  as  to  destroy  every  possible  vestige 
of  parasitic  life. 

There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  persons  have 
been  infested  by  these  parasites,  and  have  sickened 
and  died,  and  the  cause  of  death  wholly  unrecog- 
nized. The  symptoms  attending  infestation  by  tri- 
chinae are  in  many  respects  similar  to  those  of 
rheumatism,  typhoid  fever,  and  other  diseases,  and 
can  easily  be  mistaken  for  one  or  the  other  of  these 
ailments.  No  one  can  contemplate  without  a  shud- 
der the  terrible  suffering  of  a  person  infested  by 
millions  of  these  little  animals  boring  away  at  his 
very  vitals.  How  important,  in  view  of  all  that  has 
been  said  on  this  exceedingly  important  subject,  that 
every  hog-raiser  in  particular  should  use  every  pre- 
caution to  prevent  the  spread  of  trichinae.  Much 
may  be  done  to  prevent  their  spread.  A  recapitu- 
lation of  the  means  best  calculated  to  accomplish 
this  will  close  this  chapter. 

1.  Let  every  animal  substance  be  burned  or  de- 
stroyed, so  that  hogs  may  not  be  able  to  get  it  to 

25 


290  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

eat;  such  as  fowls,  moles,  cats,  rabbits,  and  in  par- 
ticular other  hogs  that  have  died  either  by  accident 
or  disease. 

2.  Do  not  allow  hogs  to  eat  the  excrements  of 
other  hogs  or  those  of  the  human  being,  for  in  this 
way  they  may  become  infested. 

3.  In  regard  to  flesh  eaten  by  man  none  is  per- 
haps to  be  feared  except  the  flesh  of  the  hog.  Still 
carefulness  in  regard  to  eating  the  flesh  of  any 
animal  raw  should  be  observed. 

4.  The  only  safety^  hy  the  general  agreement  of  all 
observers,  is  to  thoroughly  cook  the  flesh,  whether  it 
he  fresh  or  salted.  This  applies  particularly  to  hog 
meat. 

5.  The  trichina  is  exceedingly  hard  to  kill,  and 
no  degree  of  heat  short  of  170°  F,  will  he  certain  to 
destroy  them,  and  this  will  not  do  it  unless  it  is  kept 
up  till  the  meat  is  cooked  through  and  through,  as  the 
muscular  trichinae  may  be  lodged  deep  down  in  the 
muscles. 

6.  Salting  and  smoking  of  the  meat  can  not  be 
relied  upon  to  destroy  them;  hence  raw  ham,  how- 
ever well  salted  and  smoked,  should  never  be  eaten 
under  any  circumstances. 

7.  Sausages  should  be  very  carefully  and  thor- 
oughly cooked,  as  many  of  the  cases  of  disease 
have  been  traced  to  eating  this  article.      Not  the 


TRICHINA  SPIRALIS.  291 

smallest  particle  should  be  allowed  to  enter  the 
mouth  while  the  sausage  is  being  made,  for  a  very 
small  particle,  even  so  small  as  not  to  attract  atten- 
tion, may  contain  a  great  number  of  trichinae. 

8.  It  is  believed  that  one  pig  out  of  every  fifty  is 
infested;  therefore  there  is  constant  danger  of  be- 
coming trichinosed,  as  one  trichinosed  pig  is  suffi- 
cient to  infest  a  whole  neighborhood  of  both  animals 
and  men. 

9.  As  has  been  shown,  the  lungs  of  both  diseased 
and  apparently  healthy  hogs  are  frequently  found  to 
contain  trichinae.  They  should  never  be  allowed  to 
be  eaten  either  by  animals  or  human  beings,  but 
should  be  destroyed  or  buried  where  they  can  not  be 
gotten  by  dogs  or  hogs. 

10.  Whenever  there  is  the  slightest  suspicion  that 
a  piece  of  meat  is  infested,  it  should,  if  possible,  be 
examined  with  the  microscope. 

The  foregoing  synopsis  is  believed  to  contain  the 
essential  matters  to  be  observed.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  discussion  of  this  important  subject  may  result 
in  a  more  correct  understanding  of  what  the  trichina 
really  is,  and  thus  lead  to  more  carefulness  on  the 
part  of  the  raiser  and  consumer  of  the  hog. 

The  author  can  not  conclude  this  chapter  without 
an  expression  of  his  thanks  to  Dr.  J.  D.  Jackson,  of 
Kentucky,  Prof.  John  C.  Dalton,  of  New  York,  and 


292  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

more  particularly  to  Prof.  Yirchow,  of  Berlin,  Prus- 
sia, and  to  the  able  translator  of  Virchow's  "Life 
of  the  Trichina,"  Rufus  King  Brown,  M.  D.,  of  New 
York,  from  whose  translation  extensive  quotations 
have  been  made. 


MEDICINES.  293 


-    CHAPTEE    XVL 

MEDICINES. 

The  indiscriminate  use  of  medicines  in  the  tre«»(- 
ment  of  the  diseases  of  our  domesticated  animals  is 
greatly  to  be  deplored. 

The  most  absurd  mixtures  and  compounds  are 
given  the  poor  animals,  some  of  which  contain  not 
only  poisonous  articles,  but  also  medicines  which  are 
wholly  incompatible.  This  is  particularly  true  in 
regard  to  some  of  the  compounds  sold  as  specifics 
for  hog  cholera,  concocted  by  persons  wholly  unac- 
quainted with  the  properties  of  the  medicines  which 
they  prescribe.  The  venders  of  these  specifics  will 
gravely  affirm  that  these  compounds  contain  articles 
hitherto  unknown,  and  that  they  have  never  been 
known  to  fail  to  cure  hog  cholera — ^it  matters  not  how 
bad  the  case.  It  is  to  be  deplored  that  hog-raisers 
are  but  too  willing  to  be  duped  by  these  sharpers. 
Men  wise  enough  in  regard  to  other  matters  suffer 
themselves  to  be  overreached  in  this.  Thousands  of 
hogs  are  killed  annually  by  these  villainous  coui- 
pounds.      The    writer    knows    whereof   he    affirms, 


294  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

having  repeatedly  seen  and  tested  many  of  these 
vaunted  cures.  These  medicine-venders  do  much 
iiarni,  and  particularly  by  preventing  the  farmers 
from  looking  into  the  cause  of  the  malady,  and  by 
determining  this  to  remove  it.  They  too  readily 
give  heed  to  the  exaggerated  accounts  of  cures  by 
these  quacks.  So  they  content  themselves  with 
buying  the  medicine,  and  depending  upon  it,  for  it  is 
;  asier  to  do  that  than  give  themselves  the  trouble  to 
examine  and  determine  the  cause  of  the  disease; 
thus  they  lose  their  money  and  their  hogs  also.  Let 
the  farmer  reflect  that  no  one  medicine  or  specific 
can  be  depended  upon  to  cure  hog  cholera,  and  the 
sooner  this  is  learned  the  better.  It  ought  to  strike 
every  thinking  man  that  no  single  remedy  can  be 
applicable  to  the  treatment  of  even  the  same  disease 
in  all  its  stages,  and  in  all  conditions  of  the  animal. 

The  treatment  must  of  necessity  be  varied  to  suit 
the  conditions  of  the  animal,  and  the  stage  of  the 
disease  in  which  he  is  found  to  be  laboring.  Since 
in  the  disease  called  hog  cholera  we  have  some  cases 
in  which  diarrhea  is  a  prominent  symptom,  and  others 
in  which  exactly  the  opposite  conditions  obtain,  it  is 
folly  to  suppose  that  the  same  remedy  will  suit  both 
conditions.  In  some  cases  we  have  a  high  grade  of 
inflammation,  in  which  case  we  must  use  such  medi- 
cine as  will  combat  that  state  of  things.     In  other 


MEDICINES.  295 

cases  there  is  great  debility — loss  of  power.  In  such 
cases  tonics  and  food  of  a  nourishing  and  even  stimu- 
lating kind  are  called  for.  Let  the  farmer  exercise 
a  little  common  sense  in  this  matter^  and  all  will  be 
well. 

The  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  give  in  a  condensed 
and  convenient  form  the  most  reliable  remedies,  ac- 
companied with  a  short  account  of  the  action  of  each 
article  and  recipe. 

It  is  intended  to  make  this  chapter  very  practical 
and  plain.  Only  such  medicines  as  are  easily  ob- 
tained, and  at  the  same  time  cheap,  and  easily 
administered,  will  be  given.  As  hog  cholera  has 
received  by  far  the  most  attention,  and  as  the  author 
believes  deservedly  so,  he  proposes  to  begin  with  the 
remedies  most  relied  upon  for  the  cure  of  that  disease 
first,  but  begs  again  to  remind  the  reader  that  his 
chief  reliance  for  doing  away  with  that  terrible  dis- 
ease depends  mainly  upon  the  proper  management  of 
the  hog  rather  than  upon  any  medicines  that  may  be 
given,  let  them  be  ever  so  good.  But  much  may  be 
done  to  relieve  the  sick  animals,  and  even  to  cure 
them.  The  following  remedies  have  been  tested,  and 
are  the  best  that  have  yet  been  suggested. 

Let  us  now  enumerate  the  remedies  which  have 
proven  most  successful  in  the  treatment  of  hog 
cholera,  which  is  considered  of  chief  importance. 


296  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

The  reader  should  examine  carefully  the  chapter  on 
the  treatment  of  the  disease,  particularly  respecting 
the  measures  there  recommended  as  preventive  means, 
for  they  are  of  the  greatest  importance.  In  addition 
to  the  means  already  recommended,  the  state  of  the 
bowels,  kidneys,  skin,  and  the  cough  should  be  care- 
fully noted  before  any  medicine  is  given. 

1.  For  common  diarrhea  the  following  will  generally  be 
sufficient : 

Pulverized  charcoal      .         .        .         h  pound. 

Carbonate  of  soda    .        .        .        .    ^  pound. 
Dose  table-spoonful,  given  three  times  a  day,  in  milk  or 
bran-mash. 

2.  In  unusually  severe  cases  of  diarrhea  give  the  following: 

Creosote ^  ounce. 

Laudanum 4  ounces. 

Bicarbonate  of  soda      .        .        .         ^  pound. 

Flaxseed-tea 1  gallon. 

Mix,  and  give  a  table-spoonful  three  or  four  times  a  day. 

3.  The  following  recipe  is  copied  from  Youatt,  and  is  one 
of  the  best  for  simple  diarrhea;  viz.: 

Prepared  chalk      ....         1  ounce. 

Powdered  catechu     .        .        .        .    i  ounce. 

Powdered  ginger  ....         2  drachms. 

Powdered  opium        .         .         .         .    ^  drachm. 
Mix  and  dissolve  in  half  a  pint  of  peppermint-water.    Dose, 
from  one  to  two  table -spoonfuls;  should  be  given  twice  a 
day,  and  strict  attention  paid  to  diet. 

4.  When  the  bowels  are  slightly  costive,  and  a  simple 
purgative  is  desired,  use  the  following: 

Epsom  salts h  pound. 

Mtrate  of  potash      ...         .2  ounces. 
Flaxseed-tea  ....         1  gallon. 

Mix  in  slop,  and  give  freely  until  the  bowels  are  relieved. 


MEDICINES.  297 

5.  When  the  bowels  are  very  costive,  and  especially  when 
the  dung  passes  in  hard  lumps,  from  half  a  pint  to  a  pint 
and  a  half  of  strong  soap-suds,  milk  warm,  should  be  thrown 
into  the  bowels  by  injection;  this  will  dissolve  the  hardened 
matter  and  relieve  the  gut.  And  give  the  following  purga- 
tive twice  a  day  until  relieved:  Castor-oil,  from  one  to  two 
ounces. 

6.  If  there  is  cough  or  difficult  breathing,  give  the  fol- 
lowing :  Muriate  of  ammonia  or  nitrate  of  potash,  in  table- 
spoonful  doses.     Give  three  or  four  times  a  day. 

7.  For  inflammation  of  the  kidneys  or  bladder,  which 
may  be  known  by  the  small  quantity  and  high  color  of  the 
urine,  give  the  following: 

Nitrate  of  potash      .         .         .         .    ^  pound. 
Flaxseed-tea  ....        3  gallons. 

Give  freely  in  milk  or  slop. 

8.  For  inflammation  of  the  bowels  and  lining  membrane 
of  the  belly  (peritonitis)  give  the  following  purgative : 

Castor-oil 1  ounce. 

Spirits  of  turpentine     .         .         .         ^  ounce. 
Give  in  milk  twice  a  day. 

9.  For  worms  in  the  kidneys  give  the  following:  Cop- 
peras in  tea-spoonful  doses,  twice  a  day,  in  slop  or  meal ;  or 
spirits  of  turpentine,  in  tea-spoonful  doses,  twice  a  day,  in 
milk. 

10.  For  worms  in  the  bowels  give  the  following:  Spirits 
of  turpentine.  Dose,  a  tea-spoonful.  Give  three  times  a 
day,  in  milk. 

Or  calomel.  Dose,  from  forty  to  sixty  grains.  Give  at 
night,  in  corn-meal ;  and  in  the  morning  give  a  brisk  purge 
of  castor-oil  or  Epsom  salts.     Eepeat  as  often  as  necessary. 

Or  worm-seed.  This  medicine  is  familiar  to  almost  every 
one,  and  is  one  of  the  best ;  it  may  be  given  in  decoction  or 
in  the  form  of  oil.  The  decoction  may  be  made  as  follows : 
Worm-seed  (bruised),  one  pound ;  water,  two  gallons.  Boil 
down  to  one  gallon,  in  a  covered  vessel ;  mix  the  decoction 
with  four  gallons  of  milk.     Sufficient  for  twelve  hogs. 


298  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

Or  cominon  salt,  1  part;  ashes  of  hickory-wood,  2  parts. 
Let  this  be  kept  constantly  by  the  herd,  so  that  they  may 
take  of  it  at  pleasure. 

11.  For  tape-worm  give  the  following: 

Pumpkin-seed 2  pounds. 

Hot  water 1  gallon. 

Eub  in  a  mortar  until  a  creamy  or  rather  consistent  mixture 
is  formed.  This  should  be  given  freely;  can  not  well  give 
too  much.  It  has  much  reputation  in  the  destruction  of  the 
tape-worm. 

12.  For  quinsy,  muriate  of  ammonia,  a  table-spoonful 
every  four  or  five  hours.  Blue-stone  (sulphate  of  copper) 
is  said  to  be  good  given  in  small  tea-spoonful  doses. 

13.  For  the  destruction  of  lice  use  the  following:  Mer- 
curial ointment  or  sulphur  ointment.  Either  of  these  well 
rubbed  on  the  surface  once  or  twice  will  suffice. 

14.  For  mange :  Mercurial  ointment,  4  drachms ;  sulphur, 
4  ounces.     Make  into  an  ointment  and  rub  on. 

A  simple  means,  which  has  proven  to  be  an  excel- 
lent preventive  to  any  kind  of  bowel  disease,  and 
especially  when  cholera  is  prevalent,  is  the  following : 

Provide  a  tub  or  barrel  which  will  contain  say  forty  gal- 
lons ;  into  this  let  the  suds  of  the  wash-room  and  the  kitchen 
slops  be  poured,  and  to  this  add :  Wood-ashes,  i  gallon,  or 
soda,  1  pint ;  soft-soap,  ^  gallon ;  copperas,  i  pound ;  com- 
mon salt,  1^  pints;  pulverized  charcoal,  3  pounds.  Wheat- 
bran  or  corn-meal  a  sufficient  quantity  to  make  a  tolerably 
consistent  slop. 

This  may  be  given  three  times  a  week.  At  first  it 
may  not  be  relished,  but  the  hogs  will  soon  become 
fond  of  it,  and  even  eat  it  greedily.  This  will,  with 
other  proper  attention  to  cleanliness,  protection  from 


MEDICINES.  299 

cold,  dust,  etc.,  generally  be  sufficient  to  keep  the 
herd  healthy ;  by  it  the  digestion  is  improved,  worms 
in  the  stomach  and  bowels  will  be  destroyed,  and  the 
skin  kept  in  good  order. 

Among  the  medicines  that  have  been  used  by  the 
farmers  for  cholera,  and  vaunted  as  certain  cures,  are 
the  following:  Arsenic,  catechu,  calomel,  coal-oil, 
madder,  indigo,  logwood,  sulphur,  turpentine,  nitrate 
of  potash,  soda,  potash,  etc. 

Calomel  and  worm-seed,  combined  with  some  simple 
ingredients  to  prevent  detection,  and  put  up  in  hquid 
form,  has  been  extensively  sold  in  some  localities  at 
ten  dollars  per  gallon.  A  composition  of  arsenic, 
blue-stone  (sulphate  of  copper),  and  powdered  poke- 
root  has  been  extensively  advertised  and  sold  at  five 
dollars  a  pound.  This  last  compound  is  a  very  dan- 
gerous one,  and  has  no  doubt  killed  its  hundreds. 

This  one  is  better,  and  less  dangerous:  Black 
sulphuret  of  antimony,  sulphur,  and  soda  or  potash. 
This  medicine  has  been  sold  at  the  moderate  (?)  price 
of  two  to  three  dollars  per  pound.  The  following 
recipe  has  been  extensively  sold  at  from  five  to 
twenty-five  dollars:  Calomel,  worm-seed,  black 
antimony,  and  sulphur.  These  ingredients  to  be 
mixed  together,  and  given  in  the  food. 

The  prices  asked  and  obtained  for  the  above 
recipes  are  simply  outrageous;  all  the  medicines  of 


300  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

which  they  are  composed  are  very  cheap,  ranging 
from  three  cents  to  twenty-five  cents  a  pound,  and 
thus  the  farmer  is  imposed  upon  without  getting 
the  benefits  he  had  a  right  to  expect  from  the 
representations  made  by  the  venders  of  them. 

A  LIST  OF  MEDICINES. 

Aloes. — This  is  a  purgative,  and  for  this  purpose  alone  is 
it  used  for  animals.    Dose  from  twenty  to  forty  grains. 

Arsenic. — Griven  for  skin  diseases  and  worms.  Should 
be  given  with  great  caution.     Dose  from  five  to  ten  grains. 

Alum. — An  astringent,  not  often  used  for  diseases  of  the 
hog.     Dose,  five  to  ten  grains. 

Antimony. — Only  one  of  the  preparations  of  this  medi- 
cine is  used  for  the  hog — the  black  sulphuret.  It  acts  on 
the  skin  and  allays  fever.    Dose  from  one  to  two  drachms. 

Calomel. — Acts  on  the  liver,  and  in  large  doses  is  a 
purgative.     Dose  from  twenty  to  sixty  grains. 

Catechu. — An  astringent,  used  for  diarrhea.  Dose  from 
ten  to  forty  grains. 

Charcoal. — Used  as  a  disinfectant,  and  for  diarrhea,  etc. 

Chalk,  Prepared. — Sour  stomach  and  diarrhea. 

Ginger. — A  stimulant,  used  for  colic,  diarrhea,  etc.  Dose, 
a  tea-spoonful. 

Indigo. — For  worms.    Tonic. 

Iron  Sulphate. — Tonic.    Dose  from  five  to  ten  grains. 

Jalap. — A  purgative.     Dose  ten  to  forty  grains. 

Logwood. — An  astringent,  used  occasionally  for  dysentery 
and  diarrhea.     Dose  ten  to  twenty  grains. 

Madder. — Action  not  certainly  known.  Dose  ten  to  forty 
grains. 

Mercurial  Ointment. — Used  as  an  external  application 
to  destroy  lice,  and  for  diseases  of  the  skin. 

Muriate  Ammonia.— An  excellent  medicine.    Acts  on  the 


MEDICINES.  301 

glands,  on  the  kidneys,  and  on  the  skin,  and  is  one  of  our 
best  remedies  for  coughs. 

Oil,  Castor. — An  excellent  purgative.  Dose  from  one  to 
two  ounces. 

Oil,  Worm-seed. — ^A  destroyer  of  worms.  Dose,  half  a 
table-spoonful. 

Oil,  Sweet. — Used  in  making  ointments. 

Opium. — Used  to  allay  pain  and  check  diarrhea.  Dose, 
one  to  three  grains. 

Potash,  JN^itrate. — ^Acts  on  the  skin  and  kidneys,  and 
allays  pain.     A  most  excellent  remedy. 

Potash,  Sulphate  or  Acetate. — ^Acts  on  the  skin  and 
kidneys. 

Salts,  Epsom. — An  excellent  cooling  purgative.  Dose 
from  half  an  ounce  to  an  ounce. 

Soda,  Bicarbonate. — For  acidity  of  stomach  arid  bowels. 
Dose  from  a  tea-spoonful  to  half  a  table-spoonful. 

Sulphur. — ^Acts  on  the  skin,  and  used  for  the  destruction 
of  lice  and  other  skin  diseases. 

Turpentine,  Spirits  or  Oil. — Acts  as  a  purgative,  and 
also  upon  the  kidneys ;  used  for  a  variety  of  purposes. 

"Worm-seed. — Well  known  as  a  destroyer  of  worms.  May 
be  given  in  powder  or  decoction. 

The  above  list  comprises  nearly  all  the  medicines 
used  in  the  diseases  of  the  hog,  and  it  is  not  thought 
profitable  to  extend  it.  Other  remedies  may  be  found 
in  the  body  of  the  work. 

Of  all  our  domesticated  animals  the  hog  is  perhaps 
the  easiest  to  administer  medicine  to.  He  is  an  all- 
eating  animal,  and  will  readily  eat  almost  anything 
in  milk  or  good  slops.  It  is  usually  best  to  have  all 
of  the  food  well  cooked  that  is  eaten  while  taking 
the  medicine,  and  for  some  days  afterward,  as  it  is 


302  TREATISE  ON  THE  HOG. 

much  easier  digested ;  and  in  this  way  it  greatly  aids 
the  action  of  the  medicine. 

It  is  poor  economy  to  neglect  sick  hogs  until  they 
refuse  to  eat;  but  when  this  is  the  case,  if  they  are 
at  all  famihar  with  the  slop  trough,  they  will  often 
drink  sour  buttermilk  when  everything  else  is  re- 
fused, and  in  this  way  medicine  may  be  given.  But 
when  the  hog  refuses  to  eat  and  a  drench  is  resorted 
to,  instead  of  setting  the  hog  on  end  or  turning  him 
on  his  back,  and  a  stick  put  into  his  mouth,  and  then 
pouring  the  medicine  down  him,  sometimes  into  his 
stomach  and  sometimes  into  his  windpipe,  and  in  this 
way  strangling  the  hog  instantly,  which  is  often  done, 
take  a  cord  of  sufficient  strength,  loop  it  around  the 
upper  jaw  above  the  tusk,  see  that  the  tongue  is  not 
fast  in  the  cord,  draw  the  cord  over  a  pole  placed 
overhead  for  the  purpose,  and  elevate  the  head  so 
that  the  medicine  will  not  run  out  of  the  hog's  mouth, 
but  not  high  enough  to  lift  his  fore  feet  off  the  ground. 
When  you  have  got  him  thus  confined,  and  after  he 
has  quit  struggling,  give  the  medicine.  But  be  care- 
ful not  to  put  more  in  his  mouth  at  a  time  than  he 
can  swallow.  The  animal  can  not  swallow  with  any 
certainty  when  he  is  in  the  act  of  squealing  or  with 
his  mouth  propped  open. 


GLOSSARY, 


There  are  many  words  which  are  not  generally  understood,  and  which  it  wa3  fonnd 
necessary  to  use,  and  particularly  is  this  true  of  the  reports  of  physicians,  and  the  qtTota- 
tions  which  it  was  necessary  to  make  from  the  writings  of  others.  In  order  that  the 
reader  might  have  at  hand  a  short  explanation  of  these  words  and  phrases,  which  he 
may  have  trouble  in  readily  understanding,  the  author  has  given  this  short  dictionary  for 
the  convenience  of  his  readers. 

Abdomen — The  belly. 

Abdominal — Pertaining  to  the  abdomen. 

Abortion — Miscarriage,  or  throwing  off  prematurely. 

Abscess — A  swelling  or  cavity  containing  pus  or  matter. 

Absorb — To  drink  in,  to  suck  up,  as  a  sponge. 

Absorbents — Vessels  which  absorb  or  take  up. 

AcARUs  ScABii — An  insect  not  visible  to  the  naked  eye ;  itch  insect. 

Acid — Sour. 

Acid,  Acetic — An  acid  composed  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen. 

Acid,  Hydrochloric — Is  muriatic  acid  and  a  compound  of  chlorine  and 

hydrogen  gas. 
Acute — A  disease  which,  with  a  certain  degree  of  severity,  has  a  rapid 

progress  and  short  duration  is  said  to  be  "  acute." 
Adipose — That  which  relates  to  fat. 
Adhere-  -To  stick  to,  or  adhere. 
Adherent — Sticking  to,  or  adhering  to. 
Adventitious — Accidental. 

Aeration — To  expose  to  the  air,  as  the  blood  in  the  lungs. 
Air-cells — Small  cavities  or  cells  containing  air. 
Albumen — A    substance   which   enters  into  the  composition  of   all 

animals  and  vegetables,  and  is  the  chief  part  of  the  white  of  eggs. 
Aliment — Food,  nourishment. 

Alimentary  Canal — The  alimentary  tube,  or  bowels. 
Alkali — Opposite  of  an  acid ;  potash,  ammonia,  and  soda  are  alkalis. 
Anatomy — A  description  of  the  body. 
Anatomist — One  versed  in  anatomy. 
Analogous — Having  some  resemblance. 
Anterior — Before,  or  in  front. 

(303) 


304  GLOSSARY. 

^nxis — The  opening  at  the  lower  end  of  the  large  gut,  through  which 

the  excrements  pass  out  of  the  bowels. 
Aorta — The  great  artery  which  proceeds  from  the  left  side  of  the  heart 

through  which  the  pure  blood  goes  out  to  every  part  of  the  body. 
Arterial — Pertaining  to  the  arteries. 
AscARiDES — A  small  intestinal  worm  which  infests  particularly  the 

lower  bowel. 
Astringent — Having  the  power  to  draw  up  or  contract  the  flesh. 
Attachments — That  by  which  one  thing  is  attached  to  another. 
Atrophy — "Wasting  or  shrinking. 
Auricles — The  upper  cavities  of  the  heart. 
Avidity — Greediness,  strong  appetite. 
Bacchus — The  god  of  wine. 

Bile — A  yellow,  greenish,  viscid,  bitter  fluid  secreted  by  the  liver. 
Bile-ducts — Tubes  which  convey  the  bile  from  the  liver  to  the  bowels. 
Breeding,  in  and  in — Male  and  female  near  of  kin  breeding  together. 
Bowels — The  intestines. 

Bronchia — The  subdivisions  of  the  windpipe  in  the  lungs. 
Bronchial — Pertaining  to  the  bronchia. 

Bronchial  Tubes— Tubes  through  which  the  air  is  carried  to  the  lungs. 
Bronchial  Arteries — Arteries  of  the  bronchia. 
Bronchial  Glands — Small  bodies  in  and  around  the  bronchial  tubes. 
Bronchial  Membrane — Mucous  membrane  lining  the  bronchial  tubes. 
Bronchitis — Inflammation  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  bronchial  tubes. 
Cadaverous — Having  the  appearance  of  a  dead  body. 
Caliber — The  diameter  of  a  body  or  tube. 
Canthus — The  corner  or  angle  of  the  eye. 

Capillary — Small,  hair-like  blood-vessels,  between  arteries  and  veins. 
Capsule — Inclosed  as  in  a  box  or  sac. 
CoRDiA — The  heart,  upper  orifice  of  the  stomach. 
Carnivorous — Flesh-eating ;  animals  that  eat  flesh. 
Cartilage — Gristle,  a  smooth  substance  softer  than  bone,  and  covering 

the  ends  of  the  bones. 
Cavity — A  hollow  or  open  space. 
Cellular — Consisting  of  cells. 
Cellular  Tissue — The  connecting  substance  between  the  skin  and  the 

muscles,  and  between  the  muscles. 
Ceres — A  heathen  goddess. 

Chest — The  body  from  the  neck  to  the  diaphragm. 
Chronic — Disease  of  long  standing,  following  the  acute  stage. 
Chyme — A  kind  of  grayish  pulp  formed  by  the  food  after  it  has  been 

for  some  time  in  the  stomach. 
Coagulate — To  clot  or  thicken,  or  become  like  jelly. 


GLOSSARY.  305 

Cocoon — An  oblong  case  constructed  by  an  insect  to  contain  its  larve. 

Cohesion — The  act  of  sticking  together. 

Collapsed — Fallen  together,  closed. 

Colon — The  large  intestine  or  gut. 

Cone — A  round  body  tapering  to  a  point,  like  a  sugar-loaf. 

Concavity — Hollo wness ;  internal  surface  of  a  hollow,  spherical  body. 

Conception — The  act  of  conceiving  or  getting  with  young. 

Constipation — Filling  to  hardness  the  intestines;  defective  excretion. 

Contagion — Diseases  which  spread  by  inhalation  or  contact,  as  small- 
pox, measles,  etc. 

Contaminate — To  corrupt,  pollute,  or  poison. 

Contiguous — Touching,  meeting,  or  joining,  etc. 

Convex — Eising  on  the  outer  surface,  as  a  cylinder  or  round  body. 

Convulsion — Violent  contractions  of  the  muscles ;  spasm. 

Corrugate — To  wrinkle. 

Covert — A  thicket  or  hiding-place. 

Cranium — The  skull. 

Curved — Bending,  ii^regular. 

Cuticle — The  outer  skin. 

Cycle — A  round  of  years  or  period  of  time. 

Cylindrical — Having  the  form  of  a  cylinder. 

Cyst — A  bag  or  tunic. 

Debility — Weakness,  feebleness. 

Deeluxion — A  discharge  of  any  kind. 

Deteriorated — Impaired,  made  worse. 

Diaphragm — A  muscle  separating  the  chest  from  the  belly. 

Digestion — To  dissolve  the  food  in  the  stomach. 

Disinfectant — An  agent  for  removing  infection. 

Disk — Any  body  inclining  to  an  oval  figure. 

Domesticate — To  tame  or  make  gentle. 

Drastic — Acting  with  violence.  Some  medicines  are  called  drastic 
purgatives. 

Ducts — Tubes  which  convey  fluids  from  one  part  of  the  body  to  another. 

Duodenum — The  first  section  of  the  intestines. 

EcHENORHiNic — A  worm  found  in  the  liver  and  spleen. 

Elongated — Lengthened. 

Emaciation — Lean  or  thin  in  flesh. 

Emanate — To  issue  from. 

Emolient — To  soften ;  to  relax  parts  that  are  inflamed  or  ^oo  tense. 

Encapsulated — Inclosed  in  a  sac  or  cyst. 

Endocardium — The  inside  of  the  heart. 

Enemas — Injections. 

Engender — To  beget,  to  cause  to  exist. 

26 


306  GLOSSARY. 

Engorgement — The  state  of  being  full,  congested. 

Epicure — One  who  indulges  in  the  luxuries  of  the  table. 

Epidemics — Diseases  generally  prevalent,  but  not  dependent  upon  any 

local  or  known  cause. 
Epigenesis — A  new  formation. 
Epiglotis — A  cartilaginous  substance,  oval  in  form,  which  closes  down 

upon  the  glotis  while  swallowing. 
Epiploon — The  caul  or  omentum. 
Epizootic — An  epidemic  amongst  animals. 
Eradicate — To  destroy,  put  out  of  existence. 
Eruption — The  act  of  breaking  out  or  bursting  forth. 
Excrement — Matter  ejected  or  discharged  from  the  body. 
Excrementitious — Pertaining  to  the  excrements. 
Evacuate — To  discharge  or  void  from  the  bowels. 
FcECAL— Consisting  of  the  dregs,  matter  discharged  from  the  bowuls. 
Farrow — To  bring  forth  pigs. 

Fasciculus — A  bundle,  as  a  bundle  of  muscular  fibers. 
F^CES — The  excrements,  the  dregs  of  anything. 
Fertility — -Fruitfulness,  the  quality  of  producing  in  abundance. 
Fibrin — A  substance  contained  in  the  blood ;  it  is  white,  and  one  of  the 

solid  constituents  of  the  blood. 
Fibrinous — Like  fibrin. 

Fibrous — Composed  of  fibers  or  thread-like  substances. 
Fibrous  Membrane — Membrane  composed  of  fibers. 
Fissure — An  opening  or  crevice. 
Flaccid — Soft,  weak,  lax,  yielding. 
Flexible — To  bend,  to  yield,  elastic. 
Florid — Red  or  scarlet-like. 
Frescoes — Cool,  shady,  duskiness. 
Fundament — Termination  of  the  rectum,  the  anus. 
Gangrene — To  mortify. 
Gangrenous — Mortification  ,i"  the  flesh. 
Gastric — Belonging  to  the  stomach. 
Gastric  Juice — A  fluid  produced  by  secretion  in  the  mucous  membrane 

of  the  stomach. 
Generate — To  beget,  to  propagate,  to  produce. 
Genitals — The  generative  organs. 
Genial — Native,  natural,  agreeable. 
Gestation — The  act  of  carrying  the  young  in  the  womb  from  concep 

tion  to  delivery  ;  pregnancy. 
Gland — A  soft  body  or  lump  which  secretes  fluid. 
Glandular — Like  a  gland. 
Globule — Small,  round  bodies. 


GLOSSARY.  307 

Granulate — To  form  into  small,  grain-like  particles. 

Gregarious — Living  in  flocks  or  herds;   cattle,  sheep,  and   hogs  are 

gregarious  animals. 
Heayes — To  pant,  to  breathe  laboriously  ;  throbbing  of  the  sides. 
Hemorrhage — Bleeding  from  a  cut  or  injury,  or  from  any  of  the  organs 

of  the  body. 
Hepatize — Consolidate,  liver-like. 

Herbivorous — Animals  that  live  on  herbs  are  herbivorous  animals. 
Herd — A  collection  of  animals  when  feeding  or  driven  together. 
Hereditary — Inherited  from  parents;  some  diseases  are  hereditary 
Heterogeneous — Mixed. 
Hue — Color. 

Hygiene — Healthy,  the  act  of  preserving  health. 
Ignore — To  appear  to  be  ignorant. 
Imperative — Commanding,  positive. 
Incision — Cut ;  a  division  of  soft  part  with  a  knife. 
Incisor — A  front  tooth,  cutter. 
Indented — Depressed,  cut  into  points  like  teeth. 
Injection — Liquids  thrown  into  the  body  by  a  syringe. 
Infection — To  poison  by  contact. 
Infiltrate — To  penetrate  the  body  through  the  pores,   or  directly 

through  the  tissues. 
Inoculation — To  ingraft ;    any  operation  by  which  small-pox,    for 

example,  may  be  artificially  communicated. 
Insidious — Deceitful,  sly. 
Instinct — The  law  that  teaches  all  animals  the  art  of  self-protection 

and  preservation. 
Intestines — The  bowels. 

Intestinal  Canal — The  canal  through  the  bowels. 
Ire — Anger,  passion. 
Irritate— To  excite,  to  inflame,  redness. 
Jejunum — The  second  section  of  the  small  bowels. 
Jungles — Undergrowth,  high  grass. 
Lacteal — A  tube  for  carrying  the  chyle. 
Languor — Dullness,  inactivity. 

Larynx — Upper  part  of  the  windpipe,  which  contains  the  vocal  chords. 
Lassitude — Weakness,  dullness. 
Leprosy — A  disease  of  the  skin. 
Ligaments — Anything  that  ties  or  binds  one  thing  to  another.    The 

ligaments  bind  the  joints  together. 
Lobe — A  part  or  division  of  the  lungs  or  liver. 
Lubricate — To  make  smooth  or  slippery. 
Lungs — The  organs  of  respiration  ;  in  common  language,  lights. 


308  GLOSSARY. 

Malady — Sickness  or  disease. 

Masticate — To  chew  or  grind  up  between  the  teeth. 

Maw — The  stomach,  paunch. 

Maxillary — Pertaining  to  the  jaw,  as  the  upper  and  lower  maxillary 
bone. 

Mediastinum — The  division  between  the  lungs. 

Membrane — Thin,  web-like  sheet  of  tissue. 

Menace — To  threaten,  to  deter. 

Molar — Grinder,  a  double  tooth. 

Morbid — Unhealthy,  diseased. 

Mortality — Subject  to  death. 

Mortification — The  loss  of  vitality  in  any  part  of  the  body. 

Mucus — The  secretion  of  the  mucous  surfaces,  as  the  nose. 

Muscle — The  fleshy  portion  of  the  body. 

Murky — Dark,  obscure,  gloomy. 

Mystery — Hidden,  obscure. 

Nasal — Pertaining  to  the  nose. 

Nasal  Cavity — The  cavity  of  the  nose. 

Nasal  Catarrh — A  chronic  affection  of  the  nasal  cavity. 

Naturalist — One  versed  in  natural  history. 

Nauseate — To  sicken,  disgust. 

Nerves — Organs  of  sensation  and  motion  in  animals. 

Neutralize — In  chemistry,  to  make  inert. 

Normal — Regular,  healthy,  natural. 

Nutriment — Food,  nourishment. 

Nutritious — Possessing  the  power  of  nourishing. 

CEsoPHAQUs — The  gullet,  the  tube  leading  from  mouth  to  stomach. 

Oleaginous — Having  the  quality  of  oil. 

Olfactory — The  nerve  of  smell. 

Omentum — The  membranous  covering  of  the  bowels. 

Opaque — Dark,  obscure. 
^ARY — The  ovaries  are  the  organs  where  the  ova  or  eggs  are  formed  in 
-'•eporous  animals. 
.  -i.iDE — A  combination  not  acid  of  a  simple  body  with  oxygen. 

Oxidation — The  act  of  combining  with  oxygen. 

Oxygen — A  colorless  gas  in  water  and  air^ 

Pachydekmita — Thick-skinned,  an  order  of  animals  such  as  the  ele- 
phant, rhinoceros,  and  the  hog. 

Pageant — Show,  display. 

Pallid — Pale,  wan,  deficient  in  color,  not  high-colored. 

Palisade — To  surround,  inclose,  or  fortify  with  sticks  or  posts. 

Pancreas — A  gland  situated  in  the  abdomen,  and  lying  across  the 
backbone. 


GLOSSARY. 


309 


Papblla — An  eminence  similar  to  a  nipple.     They  are  found  on  the 

tongue,  the  skin,  etc. 
Paralysis — Loss  of  power,  palsy. 
Parchment — Skin  of  a  sheep  or  goat,  dressed  or  prepared  and  made 

fit  for  writing  on. 
Parturition — The  act  of  bringing  forth  or  being  delivered  of  young. 
Pericardium — The  sac  which  incloses  the  heart. 
Peregrinations — Traveling  from  one  point  to  another 
Periostenum — A  membrane  surrounding  the  bones  of  animals. 
Peritoneum — A  thin,  smooth  membrane  investing  the  whole  of  the 

intestinal  surface  and  abdomen. 
Peritonitis — Inflammation  of  the  peritoneum. 
Pharynx — The  upper  portion  of  the  oesophagus. 
Physiology — The  science  of  life,  or  the  functions  of  the  organs  of  the 

body. 
Plethoric — A  superabundance  of  blood  in  the  system. 
Pleura — The  membrane  which  invests  or  incloses  the  lungs. 
Pleurisy — Inflammation  of  the  pleura. 

Pleuro-pneumonia — Inflammation  of  both  the  pleura  and  lungs. 
Premonitory — Giving  previous  warning  or  notice. 
Primitive — Pertaining  to  the  beginning  or  origin. 
Prolific — Producing  young  or  fruit. 
Propagate — To  multiply  by  successive  generations. 
Protrude — To  thrust  out. 
Proximity — Being  near,  next,  or  nearest. 
Pulp — A  soft  mass  or  substance. 
Pulse — The  beating  of  the  heart  and  arteries. 
Puncture — To  pierce  with  a  pointed  instrument. 
Pus — Matter  secreted  by  wounds,  ulcers  in  the  process  of  healing. 
Pustule — An  elevation  of  the  skin  containing  pus. 
Purulent — That  which  has  the  character  of  pus  or  consists  of  pus. 
Putrid — To  rot  or  decay. 

Pyaemia — Poisoned  condition  of  the  blood  by  absorption  of  rotten  pus. 
Pyloric^Orifice — The  orifice  between  the  stomach  and  small  bowel. 
Pyramidal — Having  the  form  of  a  pyramid. 
(^AUDRUPED — An  animal  having  four  feet. 
IvAMiFY — To  shoot  into  branches,  as  the  stem  of  a  plant. 
IvECTUM — The  last  end  of  the  large  gut. 
PiEspiRATiON — The  act  of  breathing. 
PvETCHING — Straining,  to  vomit. 
IvHiNOCEROs — A  large  animal  of  the  pachydermita. 
Saline — Partaking  of  the  quality  of  salt. 
Salivate — To  produce  a  flow  of  salivji  or  spittle. 


310  GLOSSARY. 

Scavenger — One  whose  employment  is  to  clean  the  streets. 
Secretion — To  separate ;  an  organic  function  which  is  chiefly  executed 

by  the  glands. 
Scrotum — The  bag  which  contains  the  testicles. 
Serum — The  transparent  or  watery  part  of  the  blood. 
Sodden — To  swell,  to  be  inflated. 
Solidify — To  make  solid  or  compact. 
Spine — The  backbone. 
Spleen — The  melt. 

Stomach — The  organ  of  digestion,  the  paunch. 
Subcutaneous — Under  the  skin. 
Sumptuary  Laws — To  restrain  or  limit. 
Suppuration — Producing  matter  or  pus. 
Tenacious — Adhesive,  sticky. 

Test-paper  or  Litmus-paper — Used  for  testing  acidity. 
Testicles — The  seeds  of  the  male,  the  generative  organs. 
Tissue — By  this  term  in  anatomy  is  meant  the  texture  or  organization 

of  parts. 
Tonic — Anything  that  increases  the  strength,  either  food  or  medicine. 
Transmitted — Passed  from  one  to  another,  or  from  parent  to  child. 
Transparent — Admitting  the  passage  of  light. 
Trichocephalus — Long,   thread-like  worm ;    generally  inhabits  the 

large  bowel. 
Tubercle — A  tumor  in  the  substance  of  organs ;  consumption. 
Tumor — A  swelling  or  morbid  enlargement. 
Tunic — An  envelope. 
Ulcer — A  sore  discharging  matter. 

Ureter — A  tube  conveying  the  urine  from  the  kidneys  to  the  bladder. 
Urethra — The  canal  through  which  the  urine  passes  from  the  bladder. 
Uterus — The  womb. 
Vascular — Full  of  vessels. 
Vender — One  who  sells. 
Ventilate — To  admit  free  circulation  of  air. 
Vermiculate — Resembling  a  worm. 
Villous — A  hair  membrane  covered  with  soft  papilla. 
Virus — A  contagious  matter  or  poison. 
Vital — The  seat  of  life,  that  on  which  life  depends. 
Vitality — The  act  of  living,  animation. 
Vitiate — To  render  defective,  to  destroy. 
Voluminous — Large,  consisting  of  a  great  volume. 
Zoologist — One  well  versed  in  the  natural  history  of  animals. 
ZoosPENU — A  very  small  animal  found  in  certain  plants,  and  in  water. 


INDEX. 


Abortion,  treatment  of,  54. 
Abstinence  from  eating  pork,  10. 
Age,  great,  of  wild  boai-s,  30. 
America,  hogs  imported  to,  34. 
Anatomy  of  swine,  70. 

Head,  72. 

Brain,  75. 

Nose,  72. 

Nostrils,  77. 

Larynx,  78. 

Pharynx,  80. 

Throat,  81. 

Chest,  83. 

Lungs,  84. 

Windpipe,  86. 

Bronchial  tubes,  88. 

Heart,  arteries,  and  veins,  87. 

Alimentary  canal,  93. 

Gullet  and  stomach,  93. 

Bowels,  95-97. 

Liver,  103. 

Spleen,  104. 

Peritoneum,  105. 

Kidneys  and  bladder,  114. 

Skin,  116. 
Ancient  boar  hunts,  31. 
Apoplexy,  75. 
Atmospheric  poison,  172. 
Bladder,  description  of,  114. 
Bleeding  at  the  nose,  77. 
Blood,  circulation  of,  87. 
Blood-letting,  82. 

Boar,  age  and  management  of,  50. 
Boars'  tusks,  34. 
Brain,  75. 
Breeding,  45. 
Breeds,  choice  of,  41-47. 
Breeding,  in  and  in,  49. 
Breeding  sows,  choice,  management  of,  51. 
Breeds  improved,  37. 
Bronchial  tubes,  88. 
Butchers,  hogs  for,  48. 
Castration,  best  time  for,  67. 
Caution  against  imposition,  38. 
Chest,  description  of,  83. 
Choice  of  food,  22. 
Cholera,  135. 

Causes  of,  169. 

Supposed  loss  by,  139. 

Mortality  of,  by  Dr.  Sutton,  137. 

Premonitory  signs  of,  144. 


Cholera. 

Post-mortem  appearance  of  heart,  14Si 

The  wind-pipe,  147. 

The  lungs,  148. 

The  liver  and  gall-bladder,  150. 

The  stomach  and  bowels,  151. 

The  kidneys  and  bladder,  152. 

The  skin,  143. 

Appearances,  by  Illinois  physicians : 

Case  Nos.  1  and  2,  155. 

Case  No.  2  and  3,  156. 

Appearances,  by  Dr.  Allen,  158. 

Appearances,  by  Dr.  Higgins,  163. 

Appearances,  by  Dr.  Sutton,  164. 

Contagion  of,  166. 

Propagation  of,  19.5. 

Treatment  of,  199. 
Color,  44,  117. 
Colic,  treatment  of,  99. 
Cold,  effect  of,  173,  187,  188. 
Colon,  97. 

Cysticercus,  history  of,  133,  223,  231. 
Diarrhea,  treatment  of,  100. 
Diseases    of    swine    described;    medicineii 

for,  144. 
Distilleries,  mortality  at,  137. 
Diseased  meat  dangerous,  214, 

Tubercle  or  consumption,  215. 

Choleraed  pork  kills  dogs,  216. 

How  detected,  220. 

Should  be  examined,  216. 

In  market,  218. 
Domestication  of  swine  in  England,  11. 
Duodenum,  96. 

Dust  effect  of,  173, 177,  180,  185. 
Early  history  of  the  hog,  9. 
Egyptians  abstain  from  hog's  flesh,  10. 
England  produces  the  best  swine,  37. 
Epidemics  among  swine,  136. 
Farrowing,  best  time  for,  60. 

Rules  respecting,  51. 
Feeding  swine,  203,  206. 
Filthiness  denied,  23. 
Food  for  pigs,  59. 
Food  of  the  wild  hog,  21. 
Gangrenous  erysipelas,  120. 
Gauls,  early  breeding  of  swine,  10. 
Gestation,  period  of,  52. 
(Jorget  of  the  maw,  102. 
Gullet,  93. 
Head,  description  of,  72. 

(811) 


312 


INDEX. 


Heart,  description  of,  85. 

Hog-house,  plan  of,  63. 

Hogs,  number,  value,  and  loss  in  U.  S.,  139. 

Treatment  of,  by  Hawkins,  189. 

Treatment  of,  by  Smith,  202. 

Kejected  by  Jews  and  Egyptians,  10. 

Value  of  his  flesh  to  the  world,  12. 

Filthy  habits  of,  19. 

Choice  of  his  food,  21. 

Not  a  native  of  America,  34. 

Domestication  of,  36. 
Kidneys,  114. 

Larynx,  description  of,  78. 
Law  of  the  Jews,  9. 
Leprosy,  124. 

Lice,  effect  of,  how  to  destroy,  123. 
Like  begets  like,  46. 
Little  attention  given  the  hog,  14. 
Liver  described,  103. 
Lock-jaw,  75. 
Lungs,  description  of,  84. 

Inflammation  of,  90. 
Mange,  126. 
Measles,  130. 
Meats,  high  price  of,  17. 

Diseased,  214. 

Tubercle  or  consumption,  215. 

Dogs  killed  by  it,  216-217. 

Diseased,  how  known,  220. 

Diseased,  in  market,  218. 

Cysticercus  in,  221-22a 
Names  of  breeds  applied,  37. 
Nasal  catarrh,  76. 

Nations,  abstinence  from  hog's  flesh,  10. 
Notice  of  warm  climates,  13. 
Physiology  of  the  hog,  70. 
Pigs  inherit  the  constitution  of  parent,  46, 

Treatment  of,  69. 

Number  litters  in  a  year,  61. 

Best  time  to  farrow,  60. 
Pleuro-pneumonia,  188. 
Points  of  a  good  hog,  41. 
Poison,  atmospheric,  173. 


Pork  an  article  of  commerce,  40. 
Quinsy,  treatment  of,  81. 
Rolling  in  the  mud,  19. 
Sows,  choice  of,  47. 

Age  and  quality  of,  51- 

Eating  their  young,  56. 

Treatment  while  sucking,  57. 

Spaying,  68. 

Spinal  cord,  75. 

Spleen,  104. 
Stomach,  description  of,  93. 
Trichina  spiralis,  227. 

Animals,  found  in,  228-251. 

Butchers,  opposition  by,  258. 

Carried  in  the  blood,  249. 

Compared  with  cysticercus,  231. 

Cuts  of,  239,  247,  248. 

Experiments  on  dogs,  235. 
On  mice,  234. 
On  rabbits,  249,  255. 
On  other  animals,  251. 

Ham,  cooking,  287. 

Hog  easily  infected,  251. 

Lungs,  found  in,  271 

Inspection  necessary,  277. 

In  America,  270. 

Meat  examined,  277. 

Meat  well  cooked,  280. 

Means  of  prevention,  290. 

Muscle,  number  in,  248. 

Muscle,  encapsuled  in,  288. 

Mother  trichina,  life  of,  264. 

Penetrate  the  body,  236. 
Wild  boar,  cut  of,  27. 

Description  of,  28. 

Places  of  resort,  29. 

Habit  and  age  of,  30. 

Contests  with  dogs,  31. 

Boar  hxmts,  32. 

Laws  respecting,  32. 
Wild  sow,  habits  of,  30. 

Great  care  of  pigs,  29. 

Manner  of  defending  the  herd,  81. 


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